It was natural, considering that Jyotsna is thoroughly trained in both Carnatic and Western classical music.
Jyotsna Srikanth received, a few weeks ago (December 2023), the prestigious MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) from His Majesty King Charles.
“I was simply overwhelmed and overjoyed. I also felt immensely grateful to God, my parents, gurus, musiclovers, the UK government and everyone who made this possible!” says musician Jyotsna Srikanth describing her response to receiving, a few weeks ago (December 2023), the prestigious MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) from His Majesty King Charles. Internationally acclaimed violinist and composer Jyotsna is the first Carnatic musician ever to receive the MBE, UK’s third highest civilian award.
The investiture ceremony by King Charles was held in December, 2023, at Windsor Castle in UK. Says Jyotsna: “I had previously visited Windsor Castle as a wide-eyed visitor along with hordes of other tourists, after I had moved to the UK. Never did I ever imagine then, that I would come here one day, to receive an MBE from King Charles himself. I had also visited Buckingham Palace when I came to the UK along with other tourists. Years later I had the unforgettable honour of meeting Her Majesty the late Queen Elizabeth, and performing before her.” These were surreal experiences for her.
Jyotsna, now a British citizen, met Her Majesty late Queen Elizabeth a few years ago when she performed before her at Buckingham Palace for the inauguration of the Commonwealth heads meeting. Many years before that, she had performed for the British Parliament in the presence of the-then MPs and British Prime Minister. The UK press and music-connoisseurs have showered praise on her. Leading UK newspapers have variously described her as an “amazing”, “extraordinary”, “versatile” artiste and called her music “often mesmerising”.
Jyotsna was very diffident, even apprehensive, and slightly nervous when she moved to the UK in 2002, when she followed her husband, Shreekantha Sharma, who had been posted there on work. At that point, she had spent years of effort and hard work building up her career and reputation as a violinist in Indian music circles and among Indian audiences. She recalls thinking at that time: “Now that I have uprooted myself from my native country, I have to begin building my career from scratch in a new country and a foreign culture. I told myself that I have to work very, very hard to gain acceptance in this new environment.”
Look where all that hard work and determination got here! Not only did Jyotsna gain acceptance in the UK, and receive the honours already mentioned but she has also performed at the country’s most prestigious venues, taught the violin for courses at the University of Cambridge and other educational institutions, and even toured all over Europe and played the violin to applause at the continent’s best-known festivals and venues and collaborated with several Western music legends and upcoming artistes. She has composed for and performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and many famous string quartets and bands.
It was natural, considering that Jyotsna is thoroughly trained in both Carnatic and Western classical music. She has also given talks and held workshops and lec-dems at universities, music conservatories and music-fests worldwide. She has contributed her talent to the world of cinema too: she has played the violin for over 300 south-Indian films, the background scores in many Italian, French, Portuguese films, as well as English TV documentaries. She has featured in a wide gamut of musical genres like Carnatic, Western classical, jazz, western contemporary, south-Indian contemporary, pop, jazz, Bollywood, south-Indian cinema, Hollywood, etc.
Jyotsna thus has demonstrated extraordinary success in a wide variety of musical scenarios. This has been made possible because of the eclectic, broad-based training she received and her cosmopolitan outlook both as a person and professional. Born into a Telugu family hailing from Andhra Pradesh and settled in Karnataka; she was born and brought up in Bengaluru, a city she loves and idolises; lived for decades in London; constantly travels around the world, and thus been exposed to many influences. She adds: “Besides the Western and Carnatic classical streams that I am trained in, I also listen to many genres: folk-music including Irish folk, Nordic music, flamenco, Klezmer style (Eastern Europe), jazz, film music. I pay special attention to how the violin is played in all these genres.” All this has given her what she calls a 360-degree vision of the violin.
Jyotsna’s musical journey began at the age of five when her mother and first teacher, musician Rathna Srikantiah, initiated her into Carnatic music. She received advanced training under the renowned seven-string-violin master R R Keshavamurthy. She gave her first concert at age nine. After that, for years, she performed around India both as a solo artiste and also accompanist to young artistes as well as maestros. For example, she first accompanied the Carnatic icon M. Balamuralikshna when she was just 15 years old!
Jyotsna, who is a mother of two children, also became a postgraduate medical doctor but has almost stopped practising except during the pandemic in UK when she went to help because all doctors on hand were needed. She also gave up her career in IT after working for TCS. This after becoming the world’s first medical doctor to study C, C ++, Java, and earn Sun Certification in Java! “Yes, I did give up two lucrative professions, medicine and ÌT for the violin, but my love of music was so overpowering,” she exclaims.
In the world of classical music, perhaps in any art and even sports, there is no substitute for sheer hard work, discipline, intense focus, and sustained practice to gain success. Jyotsna believes in all these means.
How and why did she foray into Western classical music? “I was listening to Ilayaraja’s album ‘How to Name It’ in which I heard the violin played by V S Narasimhan in different shrutis (pitches) on a single violin. I was fascinated and wanted to learn this technique. I wanted to understand the potential of the bowing technique in Western music.” This was followed by a thorough grounding in the Western classical-style violin at the Bangalore School of Music and VS Narasimhan. She has also worked in film music for Ilayaraja whom she admires a lot.
Well, after all, the violin is an instrument of Western origin which arrived in India, a few centuries ago and has now become ubiquitous in Indian classical music. So, it is interesting that an Indian violinist wanted to explore its depth and breadth as a Western classical-music instrument.
However, Jyotsna has had her fair share of setbacks and obstacles. The music-fraternity in India is well aware of the prejudices among several male classical musicians including leading ones, against performing with female accompanists, whether violinists or mridangam-and-ghatam-players. She reveals: “I too faced this negativity. Many a time, after receiving a concert opportunity, I was quietly told that I would not be allowed to perform as the male musician had objected saying he only wanted a male accompanist only. So, I had to withdraw. Yes, it was both frustrating and humiliating. Fortunately, there are also male classical musicians in India who are merit-oriented and have allowed me to accompany them. In cinema playback music too, many opportunities have been lost at various stages, for various reasons. If you ask me, these prejudices against women have prevailed for a long time and will continue to do so.”
This was one of the reasons that Jyotsna was spurred to become a music-events organiser who gives opportunities to anyone based on merit and regardless of background, gender, etc. “I also wanted to give back to the art of music,” she adds. She became founder and curator of the London International Arts Festival (LIAF) in 2012. The LIAF showcases world music with a focus on her first love, Carnatic music. She has also teamed up with Bangalore String Ensemble. Her brainchild is the Jyotsna Srikanth Project and part of this project is Jyotsna Srikanth Live which mainstreams the violin with the support of drums, piano, keyboard and Indian ethnic percussion. She is also founder of a not-for-profit organisation, the UK-based Dhruv Arts which provides music classes, workshops, etc., to further the cause of music.
Drawing on her rigorous training, vast theoretical knowledge, immense creativity, and eclectic influences, she continues to impress audiences at every performance, whether as a performer—as a soloist, accompanist, or one among a group of collaborating musicians—or a composer. However, she is constantly aware that all the accolades have come after tremendous effort. As Jyotsna says: “My track-record might look good but I know how tough the journey was and is, and the endless hours of sadhana and many sacrifices that have gone and are going into it. I also know the journey ahead is tougher. There are countless challenges to becoming an accomplished and appreciated artist. The more I learn, the more I realise what a vast amount of knowledge is out there still waiting to be acquired. I just want to be able to explore that world of music as much as I can.”
The writer is a journalist, photographer, translator and author of Forgotten Composers. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.
source/content: firstpost.com (headline edited) / aruna chandaraju