Varijashree Venugopal, the Grammy-nominated singer, flautist, and composer, remembers an incredible story her parents once told her. She was just 18 months old when her parents took her to a Carnatic music concert in Bengaluru. Like most toddlers, she didn’t have the patience to sit through it and instead played with other toddlers in a nearby park.
Speaking to The Better India, Varijashree says, “During the concert, my father, H S Venugopal, a master flautist, apparently heard me scream something. Mind you, I could not even form a sentence at that time. But he later figured out that I was trying to say Raga Hamsadhwani. The song being performed at that very moment was in Raga Hamsadhwani.”
After returning home from the concert, her father was determined to follow up on what had just happened.
“Back at home, my father sang a variety of classical compositions from different composers, and as he tells it, I was able to identify the form and structure of about 40 ragas (musical modes in Carnatic music) with whatever limited syllables I could pronounce at the time. In other words, he observed early on that I had a ‘gift’,” she says.
Another such incident occurred when Varijashree was four years old. By this age, she was already delivering classical Carnatic music vocal performances to small audiences. And this particular incident took place during one of her concerts.
As she recalls, “The entire concept of the concert was that I would sing for an hour. Many musicians attended this concert, and after my hour-long performance, they sang a set of compositions in 100 different ragas. I had to identify each raga, which I did successfully. This concert was filmed, but unfortunately, the person who recorded it lost the VHS tape.”
From her beginnings as a child prodigy in Carnatic music to recording ‘A Rock Somewhere’ with the inimitable Jacob Collier and Anoushka Shankar — nominated this year for a Grammy Award for ‘Best Global Music Performance’ — Varijashree has undertaken a remarkable journey.
“As a musician with a classical foundation who has since expanded into diverse cross-cultural and interdisciplinary styles, this Grammy nomination feels like an acknowledgement of not just this song but of the musical journey I have undertaken so far. It is a milestone that reassures me that the direction I am taking [creatively] is good. Hopefully, this nomination fuels any independent artist out there to have a great and enriching creative journey,” she says.
Music permeating through the walls
Varijashree recalls, “My father, a master flautist, and my mother, T V Rama, an accomplished vocalist, were my first gurus. That’s where everything started for me.”
Her memories as a toddler are few, but they come back to her in flashes. “But I vividly remember sitting through Appa’s (father) flute lessons that he would give to students at home (he still avidly teaches to this day). Just being inside the house, I remember how the sound of my father playing the flute used to permeate the walls,” she recalls.
Additionally, Varijashree’s parents took her to many Carnatic music concerts. “There are also memories of attending weddings, and if my parents could not find me, it was understood that I was sitting in front of the musicians playing the Nadaswaram, a double-reed wind instrument, and the Thavil, a barrel-shaped drum,” she recalls.
She also remembers observing other musicians who were friends of her father’s. She would listen, watch, and observe how they not only performed but also learnt, practised, and perceived art. “Though I did not understand much as a child, it all started to make sense when I began to grasp the finer nuances of music; these were very valuable memories,” she notes.
A child prodigy comes to life
Despite her incredible talent and having learnt all the fundamentals from her first gurus, Varijashree’s parents felt it was best to enrol her in more formal and focused lessons.
At the age of four, she began formal training in Carnatic vocals under Vidhushi (a title for a female Carnatic classical musician) H Geetha. Varijashree was seven when she gave her first full-fledged Carnatic vocal performance at the Bangalore Gayana Samaja.
“After learning under her tutelage for a few years, I also learned some rare and exclusive compositions from Vidhushi Vasantha Srinivasan and Vidwan (a title for a male Carnatic musician) D S Srivatsa. However, the majority of my formal training occurred under Gaanakalanidhi Vidwan Salem P Sundaresan. I was fortunate to have him as my guru. By the time I came under his tutelage, he was 80 years old. An ex-bank manager, my guru was an encyclopaedia of Carnatic music. I spent 15 years of intense training under him,” she recalls.
However, picking up the flute and learning how to play it formally was not planned. According to her, it just happened, and “it was a pleasant, yet accidental surprise to me and to my parents.”
As she recalls, “I was curious about the instrument, and I would dabble and experiment with it in between my ninth and tenth years of formal training. Luckily, I figured out how to produce a sound because that’s the most difficult part, especially with the bamboo flute. I had also secretly tried learning some things that my father was already teaching other students.”
“One day, I told him that I wanted to show him how I played a certain composition on the flute. To his surprise, I played something that was more proficient than he had expected. So, he decided to train me formally. Soon, I started accompanying him in his concerts, and later on, I began performing in my own solo flute concerts, as well as playing in recording sessions,” she says.
Varijashree was just about 14 years old when she began accompanying her father!
Going beyond the world of Carnatic music
Even though she grew up in an environment steeped in the essence of Carnatic music, her parents also exposed her to a world beyond it through audio cassette tapes. “My parents used to play audio cassettes every day. It wasn’t just Carnatic music; they also played Hindustani music and light classical forms like Bhajans and Abhang, as well as fusion acts like Shakti, John McLaughlin, and L Shankar. These were some of the initial influences,” she recalls.
The internet, however, changed everything. That’s when she discovered a wealth of jazz music — particularly artists like Chick Corea, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bobby McFerrin.
“I was initially drawn more to jazz and its associated forms because of the improvisational space it offers. That resonated with me because Indian classical music is also highly improvisational while being structured. What fascinated me was that jazz improvisations are not confined to a raga; they move through changing tonalities and explore various directions,” she explains.
“That was something I had never heard before, and it prompted me to try to sing those elements. My only goal was to see if I could emulate what a jazz instrumentalist or vocalist was performing, including scatting. I wanted to experiment with moving my vocal techniques in this new format, and that led to a lot of learning and experimentation, which continues to this day. Every new piece I work on remains an extension of that exercise,” she adds.
Carnatic music is one of the most intricately designed forms of classical music. Training in and practising this style is why Varijashree believes she can appreciate, understand, and approach other genres of music. However, listening to and being exposed to different genres has broadened her perspective and expanded her understanding of music.
“In fact, listening to other forms has amplified my enjoyment of Carnatic music and influenced how I present a Carnatic Kacheri (concert). Applying the fundamentals of classical Carnatic music in a global context has enabled me to transcribe a jazz solo into Indian notation and then improvise on it while incorporating those fundamentals,” she says.
Collaborating with Jacob Collier
In the past 12 years, Varijashree has worked with a series of legendary Jazz artists from the West — including Victor Wooten and Bobby McFerrin. Working in these spaces, she was able to tap into a network of similarly talented and renowned artists. It is through this network stretching across continents that Jacob and Varijashree got to know each other.
“I have always been a fan of his work. Similarly, one of my videos may have appeared on his radar, following which he figured out that we have a lot of common friends. We used to keep in touch now and then on Instagram. One day, however, he wrote to me saying that he was recording the fourth volume of Djesse (Djesse Vol. 4 album) and that there was this song where he was imagining my voice that he thought would add perfectly well into the blend,” she says.
“We had a long and detailed discussion about what he wanted from me over a call and I recorded my part in Bengaluru. The recording I received already had Anushka’s wonderful sitar parts recorded and it sounded wonderful. But I had an incredible time figuring out how to blend into this mix as a ‘voicetrumentalist’ (where there are no lyrics but I still sing and use various improvisational styles). So, I had to weave in, find my own space on the record and add something of value to it. My objective was not to hamper the intention of the composition but add to the already existing soul of the song,” she adds.
VARI
This year has been filled with notable events for Varijashree. In addition to her Grammy nomination, she became the first Indian artist to perform at the esteemed Jazz al Parque Festival in Bogotá, Colombia, in October. Following this performance, she showcased her vocal prowess as the featured soloist in ‘Mahabharata – Mantras, Fights, and Threnody’ — an opera by Riccardo Nova, performed with the Ensemble MusikFabrik in Florence, Italy.
Earlier this year, she released her eponymous original album ‘VARI’. The album was produced by Grammy Award-winning artist Michael League of Snarky Puppy and features collaborations with legends like Victor Wooten, Hamilton De Holanda, Anat Cohen, and Béla Fleck.
“One of the things I have discovered during my journey as a seeker of new sounds is the art of writing my own music. I have created it in small bits and pieces — maybe a single here or there — but I have always dreamed of composing a longer piece, like a full-length album. Despite my aspirations, it didn’t seem like something that would happen anytime soon,” she says.
“During one of my travels, I met Michael League, the Grammy-winning founder of Snarky Puppy. This was about eight or nine years ago in New York when we attended a Roy Haynes concert at the Blue Note. Afterwards, we kept in touch. I showed him a couple of songs I had begun writing, and he was very encouraging, suggesting that I should record a full-length album. Despite my doubts, I wrote a couple of demos, and then the process took on its own magical path. Michael produced the album, which was released on 10 May, 2024,” she adds.
The album is a genre-defying fusion of Indian classical music, folk, and global rhythms, and it has been widely praised for its unique sound. It celebrates Indian ragas in various formats and incorporates a wide variety of folk and classical percussion and melodic instruments from India.
“About 40 musicians contributed to this record, most of whom are producing Indian sounds in a completely different context. We had a two-week production session in Bengaluru and another month in Spain. Besides Michael, we also had another co-producer on board — my friend and accomplished percussionist Pramat Kiran from Bengaluru,” she says.
It took about six years to complete this project, during which she also discovered her ability to engage in songwriting, specifically lyric writing.
“Moreover, I had the honour of working with some of the most incredible musicians who are like heroes to me, alongside some of the best musicians from Bengaluru. The music on this album comes from their hearts and exemplifies their generosity of spirit,” she says.
It’s this generosity of spirit that also defines Varijashree as an artist, bridging the gap between different cultures.
(Edited by Pranita Bhat; Images courtesy Varijashree Venugopal/Instagram)
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