CHENNAI:From classical songs like Entharo... to film beats like Uyire Uyire or Kannalane, this musician can string it up like a pro. A recipient of the Kalaimamani Award (2010), Rajhesh Vaidhya is popular not only in the Carnatic music industry but also across the world. The vainika opened his second veena school in the city, and speaks to CE about his journey as a teacher.
Having performed for over 30 years, and composing albums while working with several music directors, Rajhesh says his training and performances have nurtured him into a teacher as well. “Even when I go abroad, there are other veena teachers who ask me to take lessons and be a guest lecturer. I have also been teaching students online from across the globe for a few years. All this has been possible due to the extensive training I have undergone,” he adds.
Rajesh began his first school — Ravna The International School for Veena in Adyar in 2004 and then went on to start another one in Coimbatore. Ask him about the name and Rajhesh chuckles as he says: “I wanted something related to my name and also Veena, so I thought of RaVeena as one of the options. It sounded similar to Ravna. Then I thought why not!” he explains. “It was by sheer coincidence because Ravana was a brilliant Veena player and it was only after listening to him playing the veena that Lord Shiva appeared in front of him.”
Rajhesh has no boundaries when it comes to music and can play world music on his veena. Recalling his performance with Sir Elton John he says, “Around 20 years back, when I was playing as a guest artist with this French ballet and toured with them for more than three years. In that tour, one concert was with Sir Elton John in Paris. I played the raag Keeravani, he saw the notes I was playing and backed me up. It was indeed a memorable performance,” he adds.
Rajesh cannot stress enough on the importance of training in Carnatic music, and calls it ‘nurturing your voice’. “If I wouldn’t have trained in Carnatic music, I wouldn’t have played world music. Whether it’s Carnatic or Hindustani, in vocal or instrument, those basics helped me grow. If you know classical, you can play any other kind of music as well.”
Since he has performed across the world — Europe, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, etc — we asked him about the Indian crowd, and he points out: “People in India tend to see lot of music and musicians around, whereas it is not the same case abroad. You will see more of the crowd during a period of time. In fact now as the December season approaches, all musicians from abroad come here to perform. In fact, throughout the year, there’s some fest and season or the other. But abroad, it is perhaps once or twice a year.”
There is one music school or class in every nook and corner of the city, but a school just for veena, quite a bold move isn’t it? “Yeah, I think mine is the only veena school. There are a lot of opportunities today for veena players and I want to nurture and bring out the best in those who have passion. My course here is for six years, if they can show me their passion, dedication and interest then I will take care of them,” he says.
For details about the school, call Adyar: 9884086060 and West Mambalam: 7540083362