Artists to improvise, perform Indian classical music styles in Fowler Out Loud concert

An unrehearsed performance is an idea many artists would consider daunting, if not unimaginable.

However, second-year ethnomusicology student Gaayatri Kaundinya, alumna Ravindra Deo and second-year economics student Shiva Ramamurthi have learned that with knowledge of basic musical techniques, improvisation is not that scary.

Tonight, the three artists will be performing Indian classical music styles as part of the Fowler Museum’s Fowler Out Loud concert series, with Kaundinya as the lead performer and vocalist.

Deo, who will accompany Kaundinya on the tabla, a traditional Indian percussion instrument, said that collaboration in the moment is central to Hindustani music.

“It’s traditional in Hindustani music that performers will meet once briefly, or not at all, before a performance. They will start understanding and developing a musical relationship while on the stage through improvising off of each other,” Deo said.

According to Ramamurthi, Kaundinya’s accompanying violinist, an accompanist doesn’t necessarily need to know what the vocalist will be performing in order to be able to play alongside her.

“It is the responsibility of the accompanist to determine the scale and the rhythmic cycle (of the vocals) and improvise a melody around it,” Ramamurthi said.

With this in mind, Ramamurthi also said that the concert will focus greatly on Kaundinya’s North Indian classical style of music, which blends dhrupad, the oldest style of Hindustani music resembling a chant, and jhyaal, a faster rhythmic style.

According to Kaundinya, her style is the common denominator in each of her performances; most of the other aspects are variable.

“My music is characterized by my mood at the time (of the performance), how I feel when I am sitting on the stage. … You go through a journey with yourself when you perform,” Kaundinya said.

Deo said that the fact that the success of a musical collaboration depends heavily on an understanding of musical basics as opposed to mere regurgitation of precomposed pieces has made the process of combining the three artists’ different styles much smoother.

“I am trained in South Indian classical music called Carnatic, and Gaayatri is trained in the North Indian style. There are similarities that make it easy for us to collaborate, and the differences help build the listeners’ interest,” Ramamurthi said.

Ramamurthi also said the music is an acquired taste given the fact that it does not resemble popular, or even Western classical, music and that the lack of harmony and heavy focus on improvisation create a need for the audience to absorb the music in order to truly appreciate it. But once they do, the music transcends cultural boundaries.

“It’s like the sky. The sky isn’t a question of culture. It’s there for everyone to see and enjoy, even though we all have different names for it,” Kaundinya said.