Jyotsna Srikanth is an Indian-British violinist and composer, performing

Carnatic music Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha. It is o ...

and

Western classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

Early life

Srikanth was born into an

Andhra Andhra Pradesh (ISO: , , AP) is a state on the east coast of southern India. It is the seventh-largest state and the tenth-most populous in the country. Telugu is the most widely spoken language in the state, as well as its official lang ...

musical family in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, India. Her mother, Ratna Srikantaiah, is a Carnatic musician and teacher.

Musical life

Training

Srikanth's music training began with Carnatic vocals at age five under her mother. It was a rigorous programme of coaching, with practice for six hours daily, and the attendance of concerts during the festival periods. At the age of six, she attended a violin performance by the virtuoso

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan (2 March 1935 – 8 September 2008) was an Indian classical music violinist and music composer. Early life Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan was born on 2 March 1935 and was trained by his father, Ramaswamy Sastry. His father, sang an ...

, which sparked her own interest in the instrument. She began training under R. R. Keshavamurthy, a doyen of classical Indian violin. Her first solo concert was at the age of nine. Srikanth recognised the necessity of learning the western classical style of violin, and began her training in this genre at the Bangalore School of Music. For more advanced training, she went to

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

to study with V. S. Narasimhan, a solo violinist who works with the notable Indian composer

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...

. She achieved her grading from the Royal School of Music, London.

Career

Srikanth's initial foray into music came in the film industry, playing under the direction of film composers such as

Hamsalekha Gangaraju (born June 23, 1951), professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, d ...

and Ilaiyaraaja. By her account, she has played for over two hundred south Indian films. Following her marriage, she moved to London, where she expanded her repertoire to music scores for documentaries (on

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

and

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

), teleserials, besides performing at global music events such as

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...

, the Red Violin Festival, the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival, and the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

. Srikanth also performs

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and fusion, and has set up a troupe called ''Fusion Dreams'',. She has collaborated with the classical guitarist Simon Thacker, and the

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

/jazz guitarist

Eduardo Niebla Eduardo Niebla is a Spanish guitarist. Besides his work with jazz and Spanish flamenco guitar, he has collaborated with trance group Juno Reactor and early in his career played in Spanish progressive rock band Atila, and the Franco-British progres ...

., as well as

Fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado ...

saxophonist Rão Kyao. Srikanth has lectured on comparative techniques between the Indian and western classical violin at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and

Liverpool University The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University, it received Royal Charter by King Edward VII in 1903 attaining the de ...

. She established a foundation ''Dhruva Arts'' to help upcoming Indian artistes to perform in the United Kingdom, as well as raise funds for charity. In 2012, she organised the London International Arts Festival, a series of concerts of Carnatic, fusion, folk and Balkan music, as well as dance performances from Cyprus and India. Srikanth continues her Carnatic music career as a soloist and as an accompanist, and has accompanied masters such as Dr M. Balamuralikrishna,

Kadri Gopalnath Kadri Gopalnath (6 December 1949 – 11 October 2019) was an Indian alto saxophonist and one of the pioneers of Carnatic music for that instrument. Early life Born in a Tulu speaking Jogi community of Sajeepa Mooda village in Bantwal taluk ...

, Chitravina Ravikiran, Ranjani-Gayatri, Sudha Ragunathan,

Jayanthi Kumaresh Jayanthi Kumaresh (born 1969) is an Indian classical musician best known for her mastery of the Saraswati veena. With a performing career of more than forty years, she has given concerts throughout India and abroad, recorded widely, and engaged ...

, Sanjay Subrahmanyan,

Nithyasree Mahadevan Nithyasree Mahadevan (born 25 August 1973), also referred to as S. Nithyasree, is a Carnatic musician and playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. Nithyashree has performed in all major sabhas in India. She has released more tha ...

, R. K. Srikantan Aruna Sairam, A K Palanivel, . Srikanth specialises in the following Indian composers:

Thyagaraja Sadguru Tyagaraja Swami ( Telugu: సద్గురు త్యాగరాజ స్వామి; 4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Tyagayya, and in full as Kakarla Tyagabrahmam ( Telugu: కాకర్ల త్యాగబ ...

Purandara Dasaru Purandara Dasa (IAST: Purandara Dāsa; (1470 – 1564) was a composer, singer and a Haridasa philosopher from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a follower of Madhwacharya, Madhvacharya's Dwaitha, Dvaita philosophy. He was one of the chi ...

Papanasam Sivan Paapanaasam Raamayya Sivan (26 September 1890 – 1 October 1973) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a singer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1971. He was also a film score composer in Kannada cinema a ...

Annamacharya Tallapaka Annamacharya () (09 May 1408 – 23 February 1503), also popularly known as Annamayya, was a Telugu musician, composer, and a Hindu saint. He is the earliest known Indian musician to compose songs called '' samkirtanas.'' His devoti ...

Muthuswami Dikshitar Muthuswami Dikshitar (Mudduswamy Dikshitar) (, 24 March 1776 – 21 October 1835), mononymously Dikshitar, was a South Indian poet, singer, veena player, and a prolific composer of Indian classical music. He was the youngest member of what is re ...

Shyama Sastri Syama Sastri ( Telugu : శ్యామ శాస్త్రి; ; 26 April 1762 – 1827) or Shyama Shastri was a musician and composer of Carnatic music. He was the oldest among the Trinity of Carnatic music, Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshi ...

and

Mysore Vasudevachar Mysore Vasudevacharya (28 May 1865 – 17 May 1961) was an Indian musician and composer of Carnatic music compositions who belonged to the direct line of Thyagaraja's disciples. Vasudevachar's compositions (numbering over 200) were mostly in Telu ...

. Jyotsna hosts London International Arts Festival and is the Artistic Director of Dhruv Arts, in the U.K.

Honours and awards

Her violin playing and music style has been referred to as "amazing". In 2008, she received a Fellowship in Carnatic Music from the

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

, London. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2023 Birthday Honours The 2023 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part ...

for services to music.

Discography

* ''Sri Tyagaraja Raga on Strings'', PM Audios & Entertainments, 2023. * ''Carnatic Lounge'', Times Music, 2011. * ''Chants for Children'', Theme Musik, 2011. * ''Carnatic Jazz'', Swathi Sanskriti, 2011. * ''Alaiapayudhe'', CD Baby, 2010. * ''Fusion Dreams'', CD Baby, 2008. * ''Insight'', Fountain Music, 2008. * ''Life'', Earthnbeat, 2007. * Carnatic Connection, 2016

References

External links

* Jyotsna Srikanth {{DEFAULTSORT:Srikanth, Jyotsna Indian women violinists Living people Carnatic violinists Musicians from Bengaluru Indian classical composers Indian women classical composers 20th-century Indian composers Telugu people Indian music educators Indian women music educators Women educators from Karnataka Educators from Karnataka 20th-century Indian educators 20th-century Indian women educators 20th-century Indian violinists Women Carnatic singers Carnatic singers Carnatic composers Indian women classical musicians Year of birth missing (living people) Film musicians from Karnataka Women musicians from Karnataka British women music educators 21st-century Indian violinists 20th-century Indian women composers Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom British classical composers British women classical composers 20th-century British composers 21st-century Indian composers 21st-century British composers British music educators 21st-century Indian educators 21st-century Indian women educators 21st-century British women musicians British violinists 21st-century British women medical doctors 21st-century Indian women composers Members of the Order of the British Empire