The energetic beats of the chenda, a traditional Kerala percussion instrument, rang out alongside the sound of the violin as musician Sreejith Saralaya brought his chenda-violin fusion to Bengaluru Ganesh Utsava recently. The performance had the audience moving to the beats and waving their phone flashlights in rhythm. The first day featured a full-fledged stage performance of devotional songs, with Saralaya on the violin accompanied by the Sri Mookambika Chende team from Mangaluru, which eventually made waves on social media.
The following day, Saralaya and his team accompanied Lord Ganesha during the grand Visarjan procession, performing the fusion act as people from the surrounding areas joined the procession and danced along to the music.
The chenda-violin fusion is a concept Saralaya has been developing with Sri Mookambika Chende, taking the combination to live performances across Karnataka. The idea brings together the powerful rhythms of the traditional percussion instrument with the melodic sound of the violin. “For me, the biggest satisfaction was that we were able to make people experience what we had envisioned through our music,” he says, adding that he sees the recent performance as a starting point for experimenting with different ideas and creating new experiences for audiences.
A violinist for the past 12 years, he has performed across different stages and worked across the film and live-music industries. He has performed at the Kannada Kutumba Awards and appeared on the Malayalam reality show Kidilam. He has also played violin backing scores for Tulu and Kannada films, including KGF Chapter 2, where he worked with composer Ravi Basrur. His multilingual background, with first language Tulu, followed by Malayalam and Kannada, also helps when he curates music for events, where he considers the occasion and the musical preferences.
The festival performance comes soon after another high-profile assignment for the violinist. Saralaya performed at actor Sharmiela Mandre and Tamil film producer Sudhan Sundaram engagement, where the music was curated to suit the Tamil and Kannada backgrounds of the families. His group comprises freelance musicians, with teams in different cities, including Bengaluru and Mangaluru.
While he enjoys playing film covers live because audiences can easily connect with them, he also sees classical music as a key part of his growth as a musician. “Carnatic or classical music gives more challenges and it helps us make a better musician,” he shares. Following the response to his performance at the utsava, Saralaya is now working on new ideas that he hopes will give audiences more such experiences through live music.