Jyotsna Srikanth, a Carnatic and jazz violinist trained under R.R. Keshavamurthy, was part of the Musequality World Busk Week that set a Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous busk at multiple venues.
The Bengalurean conducted the choir presented by 25 students from the UK-based Dhruv Choir at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London.
A total of 871 violinists or ‘buskers’ as they are called, came together for the Musequality event at 21 venues across the world. Amongst the sea of buskers literally performing every Western genre, Jyotsna’s choir was the only Indian Carnatic music group.
As schools, children’s music groups, flash mobs, choirs and bands pitched in for the record, Jyotsna selected Sanskrit Shlokas bowed in contemporary style, as her students played non-stop for 15 minutes.
“The Shlokas are from my album Sanskar that I have been trying to popularise among the Western audience. The challenge was in getting together and performing simultaneously without a break,” said Jyotsna, who is on a tour to India.
“Beyond the record, it was for a cause. Musequality raised money for music projects around the world for disadvantaged children,” she said. Jyotsna has an MD in Pathology, trained in Western classical at the Bangalore School of Music, and got her grading from the Royal School of Music, London. Coming up soon is her violin concerto ‘Seasons’ for the London Philharmonia, where six seasons of India would be represented by the Indian violin symphony.
