Dr L Subramaniam, Kavita Krishnamurthy on music and more

Songstress Kavita Krishnamurthy first met the acclaimed violinist and Carnatic musician Dr L Subramaniam at a song recording for the latterrsquos Global Fusion Project back in the 1990s ldquoHe wanted to hear my voice for a track that he was recording I was very nervous He was quiet but did make me sing one line many times until I got it rightrdquo she recalls with a laughViolinist Dr L Subramaniam second from left performs with wife and singer Kavita Krishnamurthy third from left and Shankar Mahadevan right at Nation in Solidarity an event supporting Indiarsquos stand against terrorism on the lawns of the India Gate in New Delhi in 2009 PicAFPThe Bengalurubased couple who tied the knot in 1999 have been married for 15 years Oftmissing from the Hindi film music circuit the duo have their hands full performing at individual and collaborative concerts tours across the world running a music institute mdash Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts in Bengaluru and hosting the annual The Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival in the honour of the violin virtuosorsquos late father V LakshminarayanaViolinist Dr L Subramaniam left performing with singer and wife Kavita Krishnamurthy at the Lincoln Centre New York in 2004Now post a decadelong sabbatical from Hindi films Subramaniam has donned the music composerrsquos hat again for Ananth Mahadevanrsquos Gour Hari Dastaan that hits the Indian screens on August 14 He recorded a version of Mahatma Gandhirsquos famous bhajan Vaishnav Jana To with Krishnamurthy and Pandit Jasraj for this film Excerpts from an interview with thecoupleQ Itrsquos rare to see your credits on the music albums of Hindi films WhyA Dr L Subramaniam LS Post Salaam Bombay 1988 I composed music selectively for films like Mississippi Masala 1991 and Little Buddha 1993 Due to my hectic schedule I have been unable to devote time to music compositions I travel for eight months in a year performing at Indian Classical and Western Fusion concerts Kavita and I will begin our sixweeks international tour in August performing across Europe and USA I also write compositions for international symphony orchestras For instance in the next sixth months I will be preparing four orchestral works one of them being for a Spanish symphony orchestra That takes a lot of time because you have to write for each instrument separately and then collectively for the orchestraKavita Krishnamurthy KK I used to sing a lot for Hindi films last being Rockstar in 2011 trends have changed now Reality shows have thrown up many singers with Sufi and Western style of singing We were traditional playback singers I havenrsquot had many good offers in the last few years so there is no point in singing inconsequential songs I am quite into singing for concerts and I try different thingsMUSIC IN THEIR GENES Kavita Krishnamurthy second from left and Dr L Subramaniam second from right with their children Narayana Bindu and AmbiQ What made you sign up for Gour Hari DastaanA LS For a film of this nature the background score is used to enhance the charactersrsquo emotions In many pivotal scenes where therersquos no dialogue music plays a major role to highlight the characterrsquos emotions That gives me more scope as a music composerQ Being your wife was she the obvious choice to give vocals for the composition Vaishnav Jana To along with Pandit JasrajA LS No She is a versatile singer with a Classical music background and comes with a lot of experience So I thought she would be the perfect combination with Pandit Jasraj for this trackQ How has the shift been from playback singing to performing for live shows with your husbandA KK Earlier when I would get on stage and see so many faces in the audience my hands would get cold Only after my marriage and being with my husband I could finally get over that fear Now I still get a little nervous but I have overcome my stage fright Thanks to my husband I have tried to push my boundaries on stage He has made me sing songs that are not my traditional style for instance a Jazz numberDr L Subramaniam and Kavita KrishnamurthyQ Which have been your most memorable performances togetherA LS In 2004 we performed at the Lincoln Centre New York with Jazz legends George Duke and Stanley Clarke While we were performing Jazz and Opera suddenly Kavita sang her own Hindi pieces they were kind of blown awayKK We started with my husbandrsquos composition Gypsy Trail the manner in which George Duke and Stanley Clarke improvised on it was amazing So I had to improvise too and that was scary To be let loose on stage with these Jazz experts I feel like a lamb out for slaughter But I managed and they were pleasedQ How do you balance your personal and professional livesA LS Itrsquos an advantage to have a wife who is a musician Whenever I write or compose something I immediately approach her for feedback even before heading to the studio Due to her immense experience I get to hear different variations for what Irsquove composedKK We donrsquot end up keeping our lives separate In fact our children mdash Ambi Bindu and Narayana mdash are also musicians and when they join us at dinner we end up talking about music a lot Music keeps us togetherLS Yes the entire family will be performing in our next USA tour Itrsquos enjoyable to travel as a family and share the same interests If somebody doesnrsquot share the same interest in the family they will feel that we are wasting too much time In fact our granddaughter Mahati is fourandahalf years old but she too likes to singKK Yes She wants to sit and practise with usQ Whatrsquos next on the radarA KK Besides the tours he has composed an album of Hindi songs that I have sung as solos I have also sung duets with Hariharan and Sonu Nigam for the same album We hope to release it early next yearWith new names cropping up every year in the music industry do you face any insecurities ALS Not at all there is enough room for everybody At a given time Kavita and I can perform only one show in one city It is good that people get to hear many different voices With modern instruments and techsavvy GenY does Indian Classical music still hold the same charm for younger audiencesALS No in fact at our school we have a waiting list for students who wish to learn Indian Classical music Thatrsquos very refreshing KS Though it has a niche audience Classical music is still going very strong In fact youngsters in parts of South India West Bengal and Maharashtra are more keen to pick up an Indian instrument