Indian Carnatic Violin
Springfield, Virginia
Carnatic classical music has been the common thread connecting diverse cultural communities in South India for thousands of years. Although India had no shortage of stringed instruments played with a bow and suitable for vocal accompaniment—the ektara, dilruba, saranda and sarangi were all prevalent, albeit mainly in North Indian music—it was the European-style violin that found a natural home in the Carnatic classical music of South India. It is essentially the same instrument one would find in Western classical and traditional music, but uniquely tuned and played using an entirely different technique to suit the needs of Carnatic South Indian classical music. The violin is usually used as an accompaniment for vocal music and dancing but is also increasingly featured as a solo instrument as well.
South Indian Carnatic violinists sit cross-legged on the floor with the scroll of their instrument on their ankle while the back of the violin rests against the musician’s collarbone or shoulder. This playing position is considered ideal for Carnatic music as it allows the hand to move across the fingerboard while keeping the instrument in a steady position to enable the playing of very fast alankar (ornamentations), a key feature of South Indian music.
Kamalakiran Vinjamuri grew up in the large South Asian community of Northern Virginia and began his musical journey by learning to play the violin from his grandfather, Parthasarathy Iyengar. Kamalakiran subsequently had training from master Carnatic violinist Malladi Vijayalakshmi, who studied under his own father Subhash Vinjamuri at the age of seven. Kamalakiran has been under the tutelage of Sangeethakalanidhi A. Kanyakumari since 2006 and has quickly emerged as a major talent, winning numerous awards from prestigious institutions including Sri Mylapore Fine Arts, Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha in 2010 and 2013, and Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in 2014, just to name a few. In the 2014 Spirit of Youth series, and the 2016 and 2017 music seasons, Kamalakiran was selected as the best violinist in the prestigious Music Academy in Chennai. As both a soloist and accompanist, Kamalakiran has won several accolades and he continues to accompany many leading artists, performing widely across Asia, the US and Europe. In his debut Richmond Folk Festival performance, Kamalakiran will be joined by fellow violinist Bhargav Tumkur and Vijay Ganesh on the mridangam drum.