Stringing harmony and hope together

For Jyotsna Srikanth, a doctor and violinist, the journey from Bengaluru to Britain has been exciting and eventful. Her accomplishments can fill several pages, but topping the list is receiving the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) last December from King Charles III for her international contribution to music. 

“MBE is the third highest award in Britain. I had gone earlier as a visitor to Windsor Castle, but this was an altogether different and memorable day. I am the first Karnatik musician to get such an honour,” recalls Jyotsna. Born and brought up in Bengaluru, Jyotsna’s journey in music began young, guided by her mother, Rathna Srikantiah, a Karnatik vocalist and teacher and later from the seven-string violin legend, R R Keshavamurthy. “My mother would take me to both Ramanavami concerts and contemporary fusion concerts.”

Jyotsna learned Western classical music from the Bangalore School of Music and went to Chennai to study with V S Narasimhan, a solo violinist who works with Indian composer Ilaiyaraaja. Mind you, she did all this while studying for her MBBS and MD.

She played the violin for nearly 300 South Indian films, before moving to the UK with her husband who relocated for work reasons. So began a 15-year eventful musical journey in that country. Along with her husband, Jyotsna founded Dhruv Arts and the London International Arts Festival, where she curated and presented Karnatik music along with other world music genres to new audiences in remote parts of Europe.

“Concerts were happening only in the community. It was not reaching the masses. I even took it to a village festival in Finland. Most of these places hadn’t heard of Karnatik music. Our Karnatik audiences had an opportunity to listen to other music and the British audience had an opportunity to listen to Karnatik music. Through Dhruv Arts, we give scholarships to children from orphanages — one of them has even started performing.”

She composed and performed with large-scale philharmonic orchestras, string ensembles and string quartets. “I have been the most adventurous of musicians. When Prime Minister Modi came to the Wembley Stadium, I collaborated with the London Philharmonic orchestra and played a composition called The Indian Spring.”

Among some of her well-known projects are Nordic Raga — with Swedish Folk, Raga Garage — with the Western classical violin, Carnatic Connection — with Bollywood Brass Band, and Maya Jazz — with Balkan Jazz. Her albums include Call of Bangalore and Shakti. In one of her projects, Raga Seasons, she explored the overlap between the typically continental climate’s four seasons with India’s six rutus (seasons) and their related ragas.

That’s not all. Jyotsna conducts workshops on South Indian music in universities, conservatoires, music schools and festivals and has performed at the Buckingham Palace in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II.

Talking about the Jyotsna Srikanth Project (JSP), she says it went through a few name changes, from Fusion Dreams to Bangalore Dreams, because those names didn’t go well with Western audiences. Under JSP, Jyotsna explores classical and contemporary Indian and Western music and presents a creative musical journey to audiences.

Although Jyotsna is a consulting pathologist, medicine took a backseat to music. “I realised I couldn’t straddle two boats, there was family and music, and medicine was the sufferer. We relocated in 2017 to India. During the pandemic, I worked 24/7 as a doctor. They needed doctors at that time.”

Ending on a memorable fan moment, she says, “I was performing in a valley with the Alps in the background and a girl in a hijab came to me and started crying. She was a refugee from Afghanistan. She had learned the violin but couldn’t play in her country. She had left behind her family. She said I had given her hope.”