Los Angeles does have its music history enriched in the 1940s by the African-American community that gave way to several bands a quarter century later바카라and then punk and hard rock. The southern Californian metro was already a global capital of recorded music industry when Sandeep Narayan was a toddler there in the mid-1980s, but today the young Carnatic exponent is only happy to have settled in the south Indian city that suits his focal artistic tastes.
Chennai is where the classical musician has made his home for a decade now, having earlier shuttled frequently between the Mediterranean-climate US coast and tropical Tamil Nadu to learn and perform Carnatic that anyway lays stress on his talent: vocals. 바카라To a large extent I was helped by the prodding of my own guru,바카라 Sandeep, 33, says, referring to acclaimed Sanjay Subrahmanyan. 바카라He convinced me that if I was really serious about being a Carnatic singer, I need my feet firmly planted in Chennai.바카라
So, in 2006, after completing his B.A. in Law and Society, Sandeep relocated from the Pacific Rim to peninsular India. He got a flat near Sanjay바카라s home in downtown Mylapore, and began spending more time learning from and singing with his teacher. Most secretaries of sabhas바카라cultural organisation바카라used to see him only as an NRI performer: his ear-studs were more taken for a Yankie hangover than a vintage Dravidian feature. So Sandeep had to make the extra effort to register in their minds that he was in town to stay and perform. 바카라The first few years were that way, too, a struggle,바카라 shrugs the 33-year-old, whose now-diluted American accent least creeps into his mouthing of the kritis.
Other than the image makeover, the imponderable was the financial viability of a Carnatic performer. 바카라Not all full-time singers make a lot of money,바카라 clarifies a leading sabha바카라s functionary. 바카라What an over-the-hill film playback singer makes in a single concert, it will take three or four concerts for a Carnatic singer in the top ten to match. That is one reason why most Carnatic musicians had to fall back on wedding concerts or even private concerts of well-to-do businessmen.바카라 Also in these days of YouTube and illegal digital downloads as well as sharing, royalty through audio rights has shrunk.
The financial strain used to weigh so heavily on the local artistes that many of them were employed in banks, colleges or private companies and performed simultaneously. Till money issues got sorted out through popularity and more opportunities. 바카라The competition is stiff these days, but opportunities in terms of performances within and abroad are also much more,바카라 says ghatam percussionist V. Suresh. 바카라If I had the same opportunities 20 years ago, I would have resigned my LIC job and taken to ghatam playing full-time.바카라 Many junior artistes, though, continue to have a day job for steady income.
Vocalist Sandeep Narayan, 33
Sandeep, too, found his initial Chennai days scary, though his parents and two brothers back in the US did lend a hand. 바카라It is a huge risk바카라not all talented singers are lucky to make a mark and make that a living. You need to be thoroughly devoted (to music).바카라
Another vocalist took a similar leap of faith바카라more recently, in 2001. Ramakrishnan Murthy was 21 when he decided to be a concert musician unmindful of what lay in store. He shifted from Irvine in California to his grandparents바카라 home in Chennai to join the Carnatic circuit. 바카라I enjoy being on stage, performing. During the (December) season I choose my concerts judiciously to preserve my vocal chords. For me it is about quality and not just quantity,바카라 explains the largely reticent singer.
Murthy바카라s has been among the swiftest rise to stardom, points out music connoisseur Ramasubramaniyam. 바카라He broke into the prestigious prime 7 pm slot of the Music Academy바카라s December season in 2016 in just four years. Consistently strong performances help him.바카라
For Ramakrishnan, currently training under renowned violinist R.K. Shriramkumar, all that matters is pursuing his passion unmindful of the financial aspects and seeing each performance as a challenge. Many local stars have had the luxury of pedigree, being children of established well-known musicians, which opens doors far more easily. But the American imports prefer to fire on their own steam.
One reason for the reverse traffic is the spread of the Indian diaspora in the US, Australia and Europe. There is a section of them attuned to Carnatic. This resulted in more concert tours by Carnatic musicians, who began finding a following among the American-born desi, especially the TamBrahm kind. 바카라Kacheris across the US by top musicians, plus the internet offerings, have helped sprout a young crop of US-based Carnatic students,바카라 says V. Sundaram, who has been organising the annual Cleveland Thyagaraja festival every year since 1978. 바카라In the process, Carnatic music in America has evolved from an amateur interest into a serious pursuit.바카라
Music historian V. Sriram expects to see more 바카라foreign stars바카라 invading the Carnatic music scene in the coming years. 바카라In the present crop, I see their passion to stand out through performance, a strong American brand of professionalism and willingness to take risk,바카라 he adds. 바카라The success of the first settlers will bring more in.바카라
Among them also features Akshay Ananth, who left immense job opportunities after completing his masters in signal processing in New York. Instead, he turned into a professional mridangam player in Chennai, an already overcrowded market for percussionists. 바카라I got a chance to do a project at IIT-Madras on Carnatic music and signal processing. The funding for the collaboration stopped but I continue to be a professional mridangam player here,바카라 he reveals. During the December season he performs no less than 30 concerts and is the preferred sideman for the younger crop of singers. Having played with jaaz bands in New York, Akshay, 29, is happy to find the same openness in experimenting among various forms of music in Chennai, the Carnatic capital.
(Clockwise from left) Ramakrishnan Murthy, Vani Ramamurthi, Vishaal Sapuram
Even the rare chitravina has found a taker from America. Vishaal Sapuram, 27, first saw maestro N. Ravikiran playing the instrument during his concert tour in Austin, Texas. 바카라I was only three then, and have since been hooked to chitravina,바카라 he recalls, referring to his decision to train under Ravikiran at Chennai during his holidays. 바카라Back home, I pursued Sanskrit too in college.바카라 As learning under his mentor became more intense and his playing also matured, Vishaal shifted to Chennai at the behest of his guru. Sruti editor V. Ramnarayan notes that it requires immense courage to pursue the chitravina 바카라more so when audience interest in INStrumental has been dwindling바카라.
Ravikiran, who is all praise for his disciple, notes that 2017 (the year he has won the coveted Sangita Kalanidhi) marks the 150th birth anniversary of iconic Veena Dhanammal. 바카라A few years ago, (sitarist) Pt Ravi Shankar told me, 바카라I got sold on Carnatic, thanks to Dhanammal and her school.바카라 One would 바카라never find anything cheap or dramatic in her music, which reflected her convictions about the values she cherished by pursuing only the exquisite beauty of Carnatic,바카라 he notes. She saved hundreds of kritis from extinction by collecting, building and disseminating them in their most authentic form. (See column).
Not that everything is hunky-dory in new-age Chennai. 바카라The ambient noise is too high out here. Practising in quiet environs is almost impossible,바카라 says Sandeep. Also, he could not find a basketball team to play with. Akshay, though has found a team that he trains with during weekends. 바카라But since my fingers are so important I plan to give up basketball and resume my tennis,바카라 he says.
The grandparents, who these artistes missed as kids after their parents moved to the US, are now their doting guardians. Vani Ramamurthi, who relocated from Irvine to Chennai to train with singers Ranjani-Gayatri has a loving grandma to take care of her needs. 바카라In Chennai, music is more than a livelihood. It바카라s actually life itself,바카라 she says about her city that바카라s readying to celebrate Margazhi, the concerts-soaked Tamil month.
By G.C. Shekhar in Chennai
