Bengaluru-based classical violinist Apoorva Krishna is all set to roll out her passion project ‘Sanyog’ with concerts in Kochi, Bengaluru and Mumbai from October 12 to 18.
She is currently pursuing her post-masters’ fellowship at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, Boston, US.
Apoorva, born in New Jersey into a musical family, was introduced to music as a six-year-old. “By 10, I had moved to Bengaluru with my parents and was pursuing Carnatic music and continued my training in Lalgudi style with Anuradha Sridhar and senior Lalgudi Srimathi Brahmanandam. They guided me in applying for scholarships and competing in national and international competitions,” she says.
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Apoorva has many tillanas to her credit in Carnatic music and her audio and video ‘Ragamaya’, sung by Shankar Mahadevan with multiple srutis and a contemporary style was released on YouTube.
Apoorva’s desire to take her music across borders saw her seek contemporary music learning. After graduating in Business Management from Jain University in 2017, she enrolled in the graduate degree programme to pursue a Masters in Contemporary Performance at Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain. She earned a place on the Dean’s list for her academic performance during the summer of 2019.
Studying at Berklee, Apoorva had the chance to collaborate with artistes worldwide for live performances. She took part in contemporary fusion music performances in different European cities including Madrid, Valencia, Gdansk and Warsaw. Her thesis at Berklee was on Sanyog, rooted in Carnatic with original compositions.
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“I arranged the music to feature musicians and visiting artistes such as William Cepeda, Cassey Driessen, Victor Mendoza, Eve Matin, Hami Keivan and Jerzy Maczynski.”
Accompanying her on the Sanyog tour will be two co-artistes from Berklee School — Hami Keivanan, an Iranian pianist and composer in Jazz fusion music who has several albums to his credit, and Jerzy Maczynski, a Polish saxophonist and composer who has signed up with Warner Group to promote his Polish Jazz style of music, worldwide. Bangalore based artistes, Vinod Shyam and Sunaad Anoor, from the Anoor musical family will provide the percussion section across a wide range of instruments including mridanga, tabla, khanjari, cajon, tambourine, drums and pads, maraca, djembe, finger and hand cymbals.
Sanyog performances will be held at the Kerala Museum, Kochi on October 12; Bengaluru International Centre on October 16, and the NCPA Mumbai on October 18. An outreach program at SVK Smart School at Magadi Road is also scheduled for October 15.