BENGALURU: K V Krishna Prasad - or KP, as he is popularly known in music circles - is a young classical musician with a difference. A civil engineer and an entrepreneur by profession, he is a performer, composer, researcher, teacher as well as a revivalist of ancient art forms.
This Ramanavami, as part of a three-week-long (March 24-April 9) Rama Mahotsava festival at NR Colony Rama Mandir, he organised both musical and dance concerts, dance-dramas, Yakshagana as also the Gamaka tradition and many other art forms which hardly find a platform these days.
30-year-old KP says, “At the 80th celebrations this month, in the renovated premises with updated acoustics in the new air-conditioned, 320-seater auditorium, we brought the best performers on stage. We also provided a platform for disappearing art forms.”
The Rama Mandir reverberated with the melody of famous classical singers, 78 Bhajana Mandalis and Yakshagana troupes, interspersed with lectures from noted authors, activists and orators. He adds, “The day started as early as 7am and finished only by 10 pm… all art forms were well received, people gave us a standing ovation.”
At his concerts, KP believes in explaining every facet of the musical composition to his audience, be it about the composer or the composition or the history behind it. Guided by his scientific temper, he takes time to explain logically the meaning behind a Tyagaraja or a Dikshitar krithi during his performances.
“I make my format interesting for today’s audience as music is not just for entertainment but also for dealing with issues like depression, stress, and behavioural problems. In fact, I did a lecture demo along with Dr Girija, a psychologist from Stanford University explaining how our music frequencies affect the emotions of people.”
Performing at hundreds of classical concerts in India and abroad, he has taken part in lecture demonstrations and workshops from west to east coast of America. Winning a plethora of awards from various institutions, he has performed in 700-800 concerts - Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha in Mumbai, Abhedananda Sangeetha Sabha in Thiruvananthapuram, Gayana Samaja, Tyagaraja Gana Sabha and also on TV channels.
The young vocalist, who has created and composed 80-100 songs, can sing for five hours continuously and every day he practises rigorously for two hours, culturing his voice - singing long notes, at all octaves, varying his speed, aligning his shruti as well as practising breath control.
Running an academic institution Our School, he believes in learning through various art forms. He says art should be part of a student’s life.
“We have no desks, only wooden platforms and every student learns an art form. Instead of rhymes, they sing Lambo dara lakumikara.....My students, who sing well, excel in academics too. Holding musical dramas, we prepare them from day one to put up musical shows on their own, writing their dialogues, composing music and presenting various art forms. I also teach under privileged children and my dream is they should be performing at the prestigious Gayana Samaj.”
Presently, he is on a mission to spread the musical inheritance of Swami Vivekananda and has come out with 12 compositions in the classical style in Kannada and Sanskrit. “In collaboration with Chakravarti Sulibele’s Yuva Brigade, we have visited schools across 18 districts of Karnataka where children are taught, trained to sing and thereby, inculcate knowledge about Vivekananda,” says the musician.