Jump to content

Varijashree Venugopal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Varijashree Venugopal
Background information
Birth nameVarijashree Venugopal
Born (1991-03-06) 6 March 1991 (age 33)
Mysore, India
OccupationsSinger, Flautist
Years active1995–present

Varijashree Venugopal, born in Bangalore, India on 6 March 1991, is a Grammy nominated Indian singer and flautist.[1] In 2024 she received her first Grammy nomination along with Jacob Collier and Anoushka Shankar for the work A Rock Somehere.[2] She works as an independent artist featuring with bands such as Charkafonics, EYM Trio, Snarky Puppy and is the creator of the art form "Carnatic Scat Singing" which is a blend of carnatic music and Jazz.

Early life

[edit]

Varijashree was born to an Indian Brahmin family of HS Venugopal and TV Rama both accomplished musicians. She was found to have the rare ability to identify about 40 ragas [3] at the tender age of one and a half and about 200 ragas at the age of 4.[4] She was initially trained by her father and then started undergoing formal training in Carnatic music under Vidhushi H. Geetha at the age of 4. She later underwent learnt rare compositions classes an essential for Vidwath ( Senior level performance artistry training ) from Vidhushi Vasantha Srinivasan and Vidwan D.S. Srivatsa.

Her music has been vastly shaped by her guru Gaanakalanidhi Vidwan Salem P. Sundaresan. She is also a trained and accomplished flutist with her father Vid. H. S. Venugopal being her guru from the past twelve years. Her first format concert was conducted at the Bangalore Gayana Samaja at the age of seven.[1][5][6]

Varijashree is part of the Bangalore band "Chakrafonics" along with musicians Praveen D Rao, Ajay Warrier and Pramath Kiran.[7] Chakrafonics is famous for its unique blend of traditional classical music with other genres of music.[8]

Her works also include singing and composing for Kannada soaps and is popularly known for rendering her voice for Helvanakatte Giriyamma and Magalu Janaki for which she has received widespread public acclaim.[9]

Music Training

[edit]
Guru Genre Time period Description
HS Venugopal and Rama Venugopal Carnatic 1992–Present Started her initial lessons as a toddler.
Vidushi H Geeta Carnatic 1998 - 2005 Foundations in carnatic music.
Sri. Vid. Sundareshan Carnatic 2005 - 2011 Furtherment in music and training.
Vidhushi Vasantha Srinivasan and Vidwan D.S. Srivatsa Carnatic 2008 Rare compositions of Saints.

Experiments with World Music

[edit]

In 2018, Varijashree started to explore world music and Jazz in particular owing to a childhood inclination and started posting a unique blend of her thought process which added layers of carnatic music into Jazz for which she coined the term "Carnatic Scat" singing.[10] She used the online medium to reach out to audiences and artists alike. To her surprise found people such as Bobby McFerrin [11] reaching out to her trying to understand the new progress in the field. It was then that her collaborations started with bands such as EYM Trio, Snarky Puppy as well as several independent artists such as Hamilton Hollanda started.

Kalaarnava Music Festival

[edit]

Varijashree along with her father H.S Venugopal and her mother are the running directors of the Bengaluru Based Art Festival Kalaarnava ( meaning the blooming of art forms ) which has been an avenue for performing artists of all kinds from across the globe. The festival has been running since the year 2005.[12] The festival has featured artists all across the country including Hariharan (singer) and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam who were awardees of the festival's event presentation Kalavatamsa.

Awards

[edit]

She has also received several awards which include recognition from the state and central governments of India.

Albums

[edit]

Varijashree has music albums ‘Arpana’ and ‘Upasana’, and the recently released ‘Mela raga malika’, ‘Bidiru’ and ‘Kaayo enna gopala’ to her credit. She has scored music for the documentary films like ‘Ashtaavadhaana’ directed by Vid. Shataavadhani Dr.R.Ganesh, short films 'Chiguru' and 'Little Treasures' directed by Sri Karthik and Sri Vivek Aaraga.[15]

She is featured in several tracks on "Sensurround", the third album of the Italian group "Trio Bobo", a side of the Italian progressive group Elio e le storie tese.

She has also created an independent album 'Vari' in collaboration with Grammy awarded artist Michael League along with the team including Hamilton Hollanda, Rajesh Vaidhya, Pramath Kiran, Praveen D Rao.

The album features 7 tracks with each bringing a unique dimensional flavor which expresses the Indian way of thought and its universalness which enables a smooth blend of multiple art forms.

Performing Bands

[edit]
Band Name Language Co-artists Genre
Chakraphonics Multi lingual Pramath Kiran, Praveen D Rao, Ajay Warrier Carnatic Fusion
EYM Trio Multi Lingual Elie Dufour, Yann Phayphet, Marc Michel Jazz
Collaboration with Micheal League Multi Lingual Rajesh Vaidya, Micheal League, Pramath Kiran and others Multi Genre
Collaboration with Trio HLK Carnatic Scat Rich Harrold Rich Harrold, Ant Law, Rich Kass

[16] [17] [18]

Filmography

[edit]
Songs in Commercial Films as lead.
Song Name Movie Language Co-artists Music direction
Darling Darling Darling Kannada Anoop Seelin Anoop Seelin
Madhura Madhura Kadala Theerada Bhargava Kannada Anil CJ Anil CJ
Neene Nanna Alapane Kadala Theerada Bhargava Kannada Solo Anil C J
Yaare Neenu Chathure Tagaru Kannada Solo Charan Raj
Paayum Theeye Por Tamil Sanjith Hegde Sanjith Hegde
Naa Pranam Mehbooba Telugu Solo Sandeep Chowta
Saptaswara Aachaar and Co Kannada Solo Bindumalini

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Witness the Chakrafonics live in concert - Times of India". The Times of India. 4 February 2015.
  2. ^ "Varijashree gets her first Grammy nomination".
  3. ^ "How a Love for Ragas as a Baby Led This Musical Prodigy to a Grammy Nomination". The Better India. 26 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Music was the first language I knew: Varijashree Venugopal- Times of India". The Times of India.
  5. ^ Vasanth, Kusumitha (26 June 2024). "Varijashree Venugopal ties the threads of global music to weave 'Vari,' a refreshing album |". theindianmusicdiaries.com. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  6. ^ "Music was the first language I knew: Varijashree Venugopal". The Times of India. 26 January 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  7. ^ Honigmann, David (28 September 2022). "Krautrock meets Indian classical music in Ragawerk's self-titled album — review". www.ft.com. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Bengaluru to witness a virtual concert by Chakrafonics". The Times of India. 9 May 2020. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  9. ^ "ಗ್ರ್ಯಾಮಿ ನಾಮಿನೇಷನ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ 'ಮಗಳು ಜಾನಕಿ' ಟೈಟಲ್ ಸಾಂಗ್ ಗಾಯಕಿ ವಾರಿಜಾಶ್ರೀ ವೇಣುಗೋಪಲ್ ಹೆಸರು". 23 November 2024.
  10. ^ Dhanaraj, Ruth (16 May 2024). "The human voice is an instrument: Artiste Varijashree Venugopal on the release of her debut album Vari". The Hindu.
  11. ^ Dhanaraj, Ruth (16 May 2024). "The human voice is an instrument: Artiste Varijashree Venugopal on the release of her debut album Vari". The Hindu.
  12. ^ "Kalarnava News festival".
  13. ^ Atkinson, Katie (8 November 2024). "Grammy Nominations 2025: See the Complete List". Billboard. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  14. ^ Gowda, Dese (11 November 2024). "'A pat on the back for independent artistes', says Varijashree Venugopal on her Grammy nomination". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  15. ^ "Soothing classical music". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  16. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR2KaENkcu4
  17. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCtdU40hVlY
  18. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPZLl9XycOc