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“The immense variety in Indian music is amazing. That’s what I like about India — the variety.” — Steven Friedson.

Photo: K. V. Srinivasan

peep into a great culture: Students listening to Carnatic vocalist Vijay Siva.

“I think the music of a country is a great way of getting acquainted with the culture of the country. This is particularly true of Carnatic music. In the U.S., we merely listen to music for entertainment. But here your music mirrors your philosophy. It’s a part of your heritage,” says Heather Lacy, a student of journalism at the University of North Texas, Denton. She, along with seven other students of the University, is in Chennai to study the nuances of Carnatic music. The others are students of music at the University, which is famous for its ‘One O’Clock Lab band,’ and which has the largest music school in the U.S.

“Last year we signed a memorandum with the University of Mysore, to bring our students here to study Indian music. We call it experiential learning. It’s a six- credit course, and the students will be graded on how actively they participate in the experiences we provide,” says Steven Friedson, Ethnomusicology professor at the University. He hopes the students will help dispel stereotypes that still prevail in the U.S. about India as a land of poverty.

“There are stereotypes about our University too that we hope to dispel through such programmes,” says Poovalur Srinivasan, mridangam player, who teaches at the University of North Texas. “Most people know the University of North Texas is famous for its jazz music. But that’s not all we teach. We teach world music. We have African music, Indonesian music, Afro-Cuban,” Srinivasan elaborates.

“It has the first tenured professor of African music- Professor Alorwoyie. We have 1,600 students in the music department, which has 100 full-time professors,” says Dr. Friedson. Richard Croft, a faculty member, has played the role of Gandhi in Philip Glass’s opera “Satyagraha.”

Although the students have been taught about ragas, talas and gamakas, Srinivasan feels that what is taught at a University is only a ‘clinical approach’ to music. Actually attending a concert in Chennai during the music season is the best way to experience the music. Staying with an Indian family is also a part of the experience, Friedson points out.

They are staying with violonist, Vittal Ramamurthy, who has organised critical appreciation sessions for the students. “We wake up to the sweet sound of Vittal’s daughter singing. I love these magical moments,” says Friedson.

“Every morning a vidwan talks to the students about Carnatic concerts — how an artist prepares for a concert, the improvisations artists often have to make, what is niraval, alapana, tani avartanam and so on. That evening the students will attend a concert of the vidwan, and relate what they have learnt from him to his performance. Vijay Siva talks to them the first day. Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi and Patri Satish Kumar will explain the role of accompanists. Kadri will be talking to them too. Malladi brothers will talk to them both before and after their concert,” Vittal Ramamurthy explains.

Friedson has been to Chennai before, and wonders why the Chennai audience applauds so tepidly even when a musician performs brilliantly.

Isn’t it true that in the U.S., the audience at Carnatic music concerts consists almost entirely of Indians? True, nods Friedson.

“It’s not that interest in our music is lacking among the Americans. It’s just that they sometimes feel out of place among the predominantly Indian audience. For instance when Ramani played in Los Angeles, I invited Ry Cooder to the concert. He came, but didn’t stay for long. He explained later that he felt out of place there. But he invited Ramani to a recording studio, and recorded his flute playing. He even used a portion of the recording in the film ‘Last Man Standing’ starring Bruce Willis,” says Srinivasan.

The students are going to study Carnatic music, temple music, and Indian film music. Thota Tharani is arranging for them to see a Tamil film being shot.

“The immense variety in Indian music, whether folk or classical, is amazing. That’s what I like about India — the variety. You don’t try to homogenise, and that’s good. Homogenisation is dehumanising,” Friedman observes.

The students will visit Chidambaram, Thanjavur and Mannargudi. In Mannargudi they plan to stay in a typical village house, complete with thinnai!

They are celebrating Christmas in Pondicherry, and then head for Mysore, where Manjunath and Indra of the University of Mysore have arranged for 20 experts in various fields to talk to the students.

Craig Sheffield, one of the students, plays the kanjira, and Michelle Paczut, an exchange student from Poland, plays the viola. Miranda Harris plans to study yakshaganam. Michael Morgan, Carl Vermilyea, Adam Goodwin and Alexander Valdes are the other students who are here.

“This experience the students are going to have can be likened to looking at a library catalogue, but not actually reading a book in the list. The students are merely getting a peep into Indian culture, and seeing the vastness of it,” says Srinivasan.

One hopes the peep will lead to a more serious study of Indian culture.

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