Indian musician blends improvisation, tradition

Indian classical musician K. Sridhar said he doesn’t want anyone to come in with set expectations for his concert in Chapel Hill’s The Barn at Valhalla on Saturday.

“Come with an open heart. Don’t expect anything. Then you’ll go with something unexpected,” he said.

This concert will be a warm-up event for his upcoming performance at the Smithsonian Institution next month, where he will be presenting his music and lecturing about yoga, which is, he said, an essential element of Indian music.

“The essence of Indian music is in how you elevate yourself to a higher state of listening, where you forget yourself, where you listen from the heart and not from the head,” Sridhar said. “You have to feel the music, rather than study it.”

Sridhar said the greatest reward from performing is making his audience forget themselves and surrender fully to the music. He said Indian music is like a meditation that brings people into the inner world; it does not have a script — every performance is an improvisation.

“It’s like painting — you just grab a board and start drawing. Something will come up,” he said.

“Improvisation all the time: that is Indian music — we don’t prepare. If you prepare, then it becomes very boring, mechanical, dry — no spice.”

Born and raised in India, he started learning the sarod, a traditional instrument, when he was 4 years old. His inspiration comes from listening to the masters of Indian classical music, especially that of his mentor, the legendary Ravi Shankar.

Sridhar has toured the world entertaining audiences from Taiwan to Australia. He is internationally known and critically acclaimed.

Yet despite all of his life’s glamour, he has chosen to reside in Chapel Hill. But he still retains a busy schedule of traveling to Europe and India frequently to perform and teach.

Michael Griska, his sitar disciple of four years, said he finds Indian classical music to be the best genre of all. It is, he said, one of the only genres that sees the portrayal of emotions and feelings as the basis of the discipline.

Originally from Pennsylvania, he traveled all the way to Chapel Hill to attend Sridhar’s concert one day and was captivated.

He became Sridhar’s disciple after a 10-day interview and has since been committed to the discipline of learning the music full time.

“I think it would be like going to an art gallery, but instead of painting for your eyes, it’s sound for your ears,” said Griska about Sridhar’s concerts.

“Music in that sense isn’t so exclusive because it’s so based on improvisation and feeling. So you know you’re going to see a painting by him, but you don’t know what he is going to paint for you. It’s temporary, so the painting would only last for the audience to remember, and once the concert is over then the painting disappears.”

Sridhar’s musical magic has certainly enchanted many souls, including that of his publicist, Munsie Davis, who has been with him for 13 years now.

“For many years, I had been wanting to find an art form that would bring people together for a kind of experience of awe that would cut across cultural boundaries in a very sort of deep and profound way,” she said about her first Sridhar concert.

“So when I heard his music, I felt like I had finally found something I have been searching for … I have been searching for it in theater but because words were not involved — it cut across all of that.”

Davis said Sridhar’s allure is how he is capable of connecting to the audience through his music — that’s how he gained a loyal and consistent audience in this area that appreciates the essence of his music.

She said this quality is rare among musicians, and Sridhar has embraced the love from the audience and responded with amazing sounds.

Audience members should come to the concert with an open mind, Davis said.

“Just come with an open heart, open mind. Especially if you’re a student, it’s so easy to get wound up in the head,” she said.

“Just drop it all at the door, like you take your shoes off when you go into a temple. Just drop all that school book stuff at the door and come in, ready to go on a journey. It’s an experience.”

arts@dailytarheel.com