It is a family affair

It does not surprise one to find the presence of the Indian classical arts in remote parts of the globe. Not any more what with barriers being crossed on a daily basis. And Carnatic music is one genre, which has travelled widely, practitioners and rasikas spreading it far and wide. In this context, the story of N. Muralikrishnan is interesting.

An accomplished veena and keyboard artiste, Muralikrishnan, who hails from the Thanjavur district, has been teaching Carnatic music in Los Angeles for more than 25 years. He has always wanted to make the art accessible to Indian American children . “Everything in my life revolves round Carnatic music. I believe that it is the highest form of discipline and to be able to share this wonderful art form with the younger generation gives me great pride and happiness,” he says.

According to Muralikrishnan, the keyboard is the easiest way to get initiated into Carnatic music. When he started building up the keyboard to teach children, a lot of techniques and fundamentals were taken from the veena. “Both are close to my heart,” he observes.

On the other hand, wife Rose Muralikrishnan has won the hearts of music lovers with her singing. She has performed at several international music festivals and prestigious venues such as Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, New York, and Walt Disney Concert Hall, California.

She has been teaching Carnatic music at the Spring Nectar Academy along with her husband for over 30 years. A post graduate in Carnaaic music from the University of Madras, she received training from masters such as Suguna Varadhachari, N. Ramanathan, Calcutta Krishnamurthy and M.L. Vasanthakumari.

Rose is also a composer and songwriter. The Spring Nectar Indian Ensemble, under her direction, won a Gold Award at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Her recent composition, ‘Harmonices Mundi,’ won the Gold Award at the Sydney Opera House. She researched into Kepler’s Law (planetary motion) to connect it to music and wrote a composition based on that.“Audience of Carnatic music around the globe are very knowledgeable. In order to connect with them one must rise above their expectations,” she says.

The couple’s children, Varshini and Basanth, are into music too. “While practising medicine, I realised how much I was missing music,” says Varshini. Her brother Basanth, who was in Chennai, encouraged her to pursue her interest in the art. “Chennai has a special place in my heart because it was where the second important chapter of my life began,” says Varshini. “After I came to Chennai, I started learning Hindustani music.”

Blend of genres

The siblings launched their own production, the BhaVa Network through which they experimented with different sounds and came up with pieces that blended genres.

“Though Carnatic music defines my family. I also worked around pop and R & B and learnt the piano, keyboard, violin and French horn,” says Varshini. She performs as an independent artiste under the stage name Musical Doc. She released her first single ‘Strangers’ on the digital platform, which was featured as the artist/track of the week on BBC Radio-Asia Network.

Basanth, who plays the saxophone has participated in Super Singer Mini Series. “Carnatic music is definitely a powerful tool to process all other forms and for me, learning other genres became much easier with a strong classical base. And I feel I am able to express myself better through the saxophone,” he says.

Basanth has performed with composer Sean Roldan, keyboardist Stephen Devassy and singers Shrinivas, Haricharan, Sathyaprakash, Vijay Yesudas and Benny Dayal to name a few. Besides, he has independently produced a music video series, titled ‘Upper Limit.’ “Ours is a musically close-knit family. The inspiration and influences are drawn from home,”says Basanth.

When Muralikrishnan started building up the keyboard to teach children, a lot of techniques and fundamentals were taken from the veena.