For violin maestro Dr l Subramaniam, music is a natural extension of his life. He is elated that lakshminarayana Global Music Festival that he started in the memory of his father and guru lakshminarayana, a violinist of great repute, is reaching its 25th year. For Subramaniam his father was his real life hero too. He speaks about the festival, online teaching and how music changes lives with Ila Sankrityayan
The festival is close to my heart as it is dedicated for my father. It was started solely for classical music in Chennai in 1992. My father had a dream to make Indian violin an instrument that could be played globally. He was keen that foreigners shouldn't think that the Indian violin is a folk or ethnic instrument that can't be used in classical music. Now that I am too elated that the festival is entering its silver jubilee and that it has turned into a globally acclaimed event. We have had legends like Bismillah Khan, Pandit Jasraj and MS Subbulakshmi playing at the festival and there is western symphony orchestra and jazz on the other side," Subramaniam says.
The festival has been held across 49 cities in 20 countries and five continents. The date and venue of this year's festival is yet to finalise. Thanks to legends like Subramaniam, violin, over the years, has transformed from an accompanying instrument to a solo performing one. Even students from abroad are keen to learn the instrument now. For continuous learning and training the Subramaniam family, in which every one is a musician, has started online teaching through Skype which is being taken care of by his daughter Bindu and son Ambi. "My foreign students should be able to continue learning even after they return to their home countries. The online sessions help us to stay connected. We have to support our children to learn music as we insist them to learn other subjects. We lose talented musicians solely because of lack of guiding and training at the right time, he says.
It was this vision that made him to found Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts (SAPA). The aim of the Academy, began in November 2007 in Bangalore, was to make music a viable career option like medicine or engineering. At SAPA children from the age of three are admitted. Subramaniam has also been associated with Virsa, a digital interactive learning programme to deliver art lessons, launched by Routes 2 roots in collaboration with Union Ministry of Culture.
Subramaniam believes that music nurtures the personality of a person and makes him a civilized human being. "Music gives peace of mind. It moulds your personality and turns you into a better human being. Being civilized is not the same as acquiring degrees. Music makes a human being cultured which, I believe, leads to build a civilized and developed nation", he ascertains.
"I believe that there are two phases in a musician's life. The first is when he is concerned about the external things like the audience, concerts and publicity. We would feel stressed then as we chase goals and struggle to be more in tune with ourself. Then comes the 'internal' phase - nurturing the music within you, and communing with something more profound which is inherently higher than yourself. It needs practice, like to learn music, to reach that stage", says the violinist who has earned rare repute.
It was legendary musician Yehudi Menuhin who had said that "I find nothing more inspiring than the music of my very great colleague Subramaniam". These words aptly suit Subramaniam who composed for almost all the leading orchestras of the world. His collaboration include Yehudi Menuhin, Stephane Grappelli, Jean-Pierre Rampal, George Harrison, Stevie Wonder, Ruggiero Ricci, Herbie Hancock, Joe Sample, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Al Jarreau, Jean luc Ponty, Earl Klugh, larry Coryell, Ernie Watts, Corky Siegel, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Arve Tellefsen, John Surman, Maynard Ferguson, Ravi Coltrane, Solo Cissokho, Baba Olatunji, Jei Bing Chen and Miya Masaok.
"The opportunity to play with musicians outside our traditional sphere opened up many things - my own innate connection with my instrument, the ability to learn about how the violin is approached in the West, their technique and their dedication to the art. Whether playing with Stanley Clarke or Jean-Pierre Rampal, it is the vision that my father fostered, and my quest in connecting with my instrument that has held me firm to the ground. I remember how in the 70s, when I was invited to do master classes and guest lectures at a conservatory in Germany, I was amazed by the technical control, finesse and clarity of tone that even an undergraduate student had", he recalls.
Subramaniam composed music to a few films such as Bernardo Bertolucci's little Buddha and Missisippi Masala. When asked about his future projects he said, "I don't do music for films unless I am really interested. I am not interested in Bollywood commercial films. I love film music that is used as background score", he says.