Workshop I: südindische Musik

Workshop with Shantala Subramanyam:
In the three workshops, three special musicians will talk about the possibilities of using the unique qualities of the music of another tradition melodically and rhythmically. Bakr Khleifi is an accomplished Ud player, Merve Salgar is a virtuoso Tanbur player and Shanthala Subramanyam is an expert singer and flautist in South Indian music. The three have collaborated with many contemporary music groups and have incorporated their sounds into various contemporary compositions.

In these workshops, they will also explain the basic technique of their instruments, especially with regard to the differences in sound production, the sound component and the ability of swaras or naghmas to move in certain ways differently compared to European note approaches. This allows for increased awareness and dexterity in what in the Eurological tradition would be called "between the notes" or "in the cracks". The technical explanation is followed by a discussion of this difference.

Shantala Subramanyam was born in Bangalore and grew up in Chennai, the stronghold of Carnatic music, known for its improvisation on beautiful ragas in a highly developed rhythmic vocabulary. She plays the VENU, a Carnatic bamboo flute, which is an instrument with a warm sound.

Like many Carnatic musicians, Shantala started playing music at an early age under the guidance of her father M N Subramanyam, who was an amateur musician himself, and her brother Shashank, an excellent flute artist. She was also fortunate to be taught by eminent artists - singer Sri. Vairamangalam Lakshminarayanan. She is currently undergoing vocal training with Sri O.S.Thyagarajan and Sri T V Gopalakrishanan. She is grateful to the famous South Indian drummers Trichur Sri.Narendran, Patri Satish Kumar and Parupalli Phalgun for imparting her rhythm training over a decade.

Thanks to her diligent training and hard work, Shantala was highly appreciated for her melodic performances combined with complex rhythmic patterns. Today, she is considered an important and authentic voice in this demanding tradition, which is also confirmed by music critics.