When India’s well-known pianist, Anil Srinivasan, who is credited with bringing the piano onto the Carnatic fold says: “It’s flattering, I didn’t do it with that agenda, I just communicate with my piano,” one can see how modest he is about his mammoth mission to familiarise the government school children with music. Anil currently works with the Agastya Foundation to take his own devised ‘Rhapsody music programme’ to schools in rural Karnataka, and with the Indian Music Experience Trust (IME) to a few schools in Bengaluru.
Bookmark April 17
In Bengaluru, Anil, the classical-contemporary pianist trained in Carnatic and Western classical and a regular on global platforms, would be part of the more traditional Ramanavami platform at the Chamarajpet Ramaseva Mandali along with Pravin Godkhindi on flute on April 17.
“This year, we thought we could bring in the huge Western instrument as a piano to face a slim and slender bamboo ‘bansuri’ for a Carnatic and Hindustani fusion,” says S.N. Varadaraj of Ramaseva Mandali.
Straddling across Indian and Western classical genres, Anil says the display of an incredible range comes with a mental ability to internalise different ideas. “You can call me an ‘intersectionist’ of sorts,” jokes Anil. But how did he bring in a piano into the Carnatic fold that requires a flow with gamakas?
“I never claim to be getting all the Carnatic idioms perfectly. The strength of my piano is in the spirit and essential character of the Carnatic genre I bring in a collaboration,” says Anil. Taste Pravin and Anil’s jugalbandi explaining this with a ragamalika for a taanamalika that would have those deft fingers elucidating them all.
