Sudha Subbaraman Reflects on Her Journey as an Indian Classical Musician and Shares Upcoming Projects
“In a nutshell, music keeps my boat afloat. It's my daily tonic. Being an engineer by training, my brain loves mathematical patterns and I love creating music.” Today’s woman dreamer, Sudha Subbaraman (aka Sudha Kumar), is an inspiring woman in the classical music space. In this inspiring interview with Women Who Win, Sudha reflects on what sparked her passion for music, how she made music during the pandemic, and her exciting upcoming projects! Enjoy her inspiring story!
1. Tell us your story. You are a singer-songwriter, producer and composer based in the Boston area with a passion for classical music and the music world in general. Tell us more about what inspired your journey as a musician?
I come from a Tamil (Brahmin) family where music is deeply ingrained in our day to day lives. I have always been a Dad's girl. He used to play everything from Carnatic music (Madurai Mani Iyer, MS Subbalakshmi) to Hindi film music of Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Rafi Saab, KishoreDa etc. It was the best way to wake me up (and the occasional ice down my back)
My inspiration for music actually was sparked from watching my older sister Shanti sing. My mother and my sister both sing, my sister's singing was sublime and touched the soul. I started casually following her and started singing in school choir bhajans, and went on to join my college bands in REC Trichy and Oregon State University during my engineering college days, and won several prizes back then in singing competitions.
I actually took formal lessons in classical music - Carnatic only in my 20s, and somewhere along the road, I got drawn to the soulful alaaps and expressive singing world of Hindustani classical music. I enrolled into Hindustani music (with Guru Swati Panda) and then there was no turning back. I am currently a shishya of Vidushi Arati Ankalikar. I think in alaaps, it's my musical expression. So, melody is what keeps my rhythm in music flowing. I just love anything melodious and I love the patterns that notes make to create ragas.
2. What do you love most about the music world? What excites you most when starting a new project?
In a nutshell, music keeps my boat afloat. It's my daily tonic - I sing, hum a lot when I'm home. What excites me most when starting a new project is actually delving into its melodic composition. Being an engineer by training, my brain loves mathematical patterns and I love creating music, designing the arrangement and sometimes fitting the lyrics into the melody. The lyrics are always my most challenging part! I am a Lalala girl! :-) The soundtrack of my life is just music, alaaps and lalalas!
3. Is there a particular project you have been a part of that you are most proud of? Please share.
During the pandemic, I worked on several online collaborations working with artists around the globe. I got an opportunity to re-create the music for an inclusive-music project by Aasmaan Foundation in India. We called the song - "Olangal - Waves''. It was a very rewarding project - I worked with an amazing lady called Dhanya Ravi, artists of different physical abilities showcased their skills in performing the song. The re-interpreted version of the song "Thumbi Vaa'' was launched on Maestro Illayaraja's music channel in December 2020.
In 2018, I was the lead singer and director for a Bollywood live-band concert "Surmayee Shaam", where I got to raise funds for an NGO, AdityaJyot Foundation based in India. It was such a fun concert with some amazing talents from our New England area- I would love to do a Part II sometime.
The other project that is extremely close to my heart is the song "Ekal Gatha" that was released in April 2021. The song describes Ekal's projects in a beautiful tune - My Ekal Sakhis as I call them - Manisha Jain and Parveen Minocha were the brains behind the lyrics, we brainstormed, and I produced and directed the song music and video featuring some lovely Ekal volunteers and kids from the Boston area.
My personal favorite recording projects are my songs and music videos - "Kanha", "Devi Dharohar", and "Saraswatheeyaamam" all of which are available on all audio platforms and my YouTube channel.
4. What are you working on these days? Can you tease any upcoming music/projects?
I just recently released a song called "Kanha" in October 2022.
Based on Raag Bhoopali, the song is composed and written by my Guru Arati AnkalikarJi. The inspiration to create the lyrics came from a composition of hers she taught us students and I had the joy of brainstorming on ideas while being trained by AratiJi. The music is arranged and produced by Goutham Vincent, with an overlay of beautiful flute throughout by Sri. Rajesh Cherthala, giving me wonderful sangat during alaap and interludes.
The music video of the "Kanha" song (https://youtu.be/iRmrKSEBVNg) re-tells the story of Radha's love for her Kanha, but with an engaging storytelling spin, enacted and choreographed by artist, Krithika Rajkumar, under the brilliant direction of Deepa Jacob and Jaison K Jose of Cocoon Media productions.
5. As the platform for women dreamers, what is your next big dream?
Post-pandemic, my mindset has evolved. These days, I tend to live by the day. Talking about aspirations, my big dream is to create more music with a message, music for women, children, animals and Nature. I want to continue to work on productions with different artists and hopefully some big industry musicians as well. Of course, I could ruminate and live in my own internal Cancerian shell, following Swarayoginee Dr. Prabha AtreJi's motto "Enclosed within the shell of my mind, I keep on at my music, my meditation eternally; the struggles of a calcite inside an oyster; till I sublimate that note into a dazzling pearl!"
Thank you Sudha for sharing your inspiring story with us. We are excited to have you in our empowered women’s network!
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