What did you do musically through lockdown ? Did you release new music ?
The lockdown was a creatively stimulating time for me . We released a single called Janani for mother ’ s day , celebrating motherhood and celebrating the concept of what motherhood stood for . We also launched a new web series called Cup O ’ Carnatic fun series . How do you establish a connection between popular , familiar tunes from around the world to the traditional Indian Classical System ? This series did exactly that . There have been a lot of online concerts for many organizations – Sankat Mochan Festival , Swara Samrat Festival , Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan , HCL Baithak and the like . Many December Margahzi concerts are also being recorded .
Challenges you faced when recording your songs / making new music
We have a very professional recording set up at home . The only challenge we faced was that during normal times , we usually have a couple of students who would come and help us out . Sometimes , when both myself and Kumaresh ji had to play and record , we didn ’ t have anyone to record it .
How do you think the music scene can recover from the pandemic hit ?
The music scene is recovering step by step . Initially there was just devastation that people could not go out and perform . Then people started doing things online . Many who taught online did not struggle for a living and they made it . Only people who are looking only at concert opportunities found it very difficult . Slowly this scene is changing . Online ticketed concerts have started . Hopefully soon they will start allowing a reduced audience with social distancing to attend concerts physically . Usually festivals are the times when many concerts are conducted such as Krishna Jayanthi , Ganesha Chaturthi and Dussehra . This year , we have not had any of these and that has put a huge strain on the musician ’ s livelihood . It is going to take a while for things to normalize .
What can we look forward to from you now ?
The highlight of lockdown has been the launch of Jayanthi Kumaresh Academy of Veena just a few days ago . My life ’ s ambition is to build an institution for Veena , with classrooms , music archive rooms and performances under one roof . While the brick and mortar building is yet to be built , the online links and pixels version is now available online at www . jayanthikumaresh . com / acaemy . This is an online endeavor which aims to connect the artist with aspiring Veena students by providing periodic master classes on specified subjects . These master classes will throw light on techniques , repertoire , practice and creativity and using these tools to improve performance . I am looking forward to enabling and empowering veena players across the globe .
The Score Magazine
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Veena Artist
JAYANTHI KUMARESH