Mumbai, June 16th, 2023: To kick off the MUSICAL BELONGINGS series, two of the most important Indian musicians of our time will be performing in Berlin: violinist Kala Ramnath (also known as Singing Violin) and veena player Dr. Jayanthi Kumaresh. The Musical Belongings. The MUSICAL BELONGINGS project is funded by the program “Excellent Orchestral Landscape in Germany” of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).
Kala Ramnath, known for fusion projects with Hilary Hahn, learned her unique singing style from Guru Pandit Jasraj. She comes from the North Indian Hindustani music tradition. Jayanthi Kumaresh, a representative of the Carnatic music tradition of South India, plays and teaches the Saraswati Veena, the Indian lute.
The first concert project is thus a double encounter: not only European and Indian lute music but also North and South Indian music meet here and show the whole variety of ragas, the many melodic basic structures of India’s traditional music. In the interplay and contrast between raga and the European tradition, novel insights into the music of two continents emerge.
Maestro Kala Ramnath with her ‘Singing Violin’ stands among the world’s finest, most inspirational instrumentalists. Her playing has been featured on the Grammy-nominated Miles from India project, compositions of hers have appeared on the Grammy-winning album In 27 Pieces and the Kronos Quartet’s 50 For The Future. And, most significantly in an Indian context, in May 2017 she was awarded the most illustrious Sangeet Natak Academy Puraskar for her contributions to the violin in Hindustani Classical Music.
Apart from several prestigious venues and festivals in India, Jayanthi has performed at many international festivals, including the San Francisco Jazz Festival, Darbar Festival London, Celtic Connections in Scotland, Queensland Music Festival, Darwin Music Festival, and Adelaide Music Festival, BBC Proms London and at prestigious venues such as United Nations in New York, the Palladium, Indiana, Théåtre de la Ville, Paris, and Northwest Folklife Festival, Seattle.
“It is of extreme pleasure for me to perform with Jayanthiji at the Musical Belongings series in Berlin. This event will encounter a double encounter of musical fusion of the European & Indian lute music as well as the North & South Indian music. It is also an honour to represent my country India in Berlin and performing at the iconic museum Humboldt Forum”’, shared Kala Ramnath