Why violinist Aneesh Vidyashankar shines brighter than many

Wisdom may come with age for most, but young achievers these days are really putting the adage to test. Take Aneesh Vidyashankar, the 20-year-old violinist, who’d been hailed as a prodigy since childhood. He has recently won the coveted First Prize at the National level AIR and also has the “Young Achiever Award” under his belt.

Deeply curious, immensely creative and just as capable, Aneesh has been working on new fusion concepts. He fuses with ease Vatapi Ganapathim to Waka Waka, Shudda Dhanyasi to Sheela Ki Jawani, Hamsadwani to Summer of 69 and much, much more.

This fusion of melody and modern music has found takers all around — young and old — who can’t get enough of this fusion. And that is what his vision is all about — to help people connect to music. And he can afford to have a vision too. Aneesh had been trained in the classical Carnatic style in the famous Lalgudi bani, by his father Sri Vidyashankar. Having performed for audiences for over thirteen years now, Aneesh has embraced different genres of music, though he hasn’t moved away from the classical foundation. His solo violin concerts have found critical acclaim from music lovers and connoisseurs, not only in Bangalore but also in Chennai and other places.

Aneesh takes his music to wider audiences amongst corporates, in conferences, at festivals and more commercial venues, apart from performing for the radio and television channels. In fact, his weekly television programme Divine Melodies has completed more than a year. .

Pure Expressions, his music album launched by the Kosmic Recording Company in Chennai was, and is still, widely appreciated. And Aneesh followed it up with Fusion Strings, a fusion music album, which again, is creating waves all around. He had also collaborated with Bollywood performers like Aslam and Srinivas. Not just satisfied with conventional venues, Aneesh has also taken his music to more popular new media forums, including Facebook and YouTube.

He has collaborated with artistes across genres and performance forms and believes in the power of music to soothe and heal. From software giants to spiritual leaders, they’ve found some resonance with Aneesh Vidyashankar’s music. And Bangalore will wait with bated breath to see how far this young star shines his light.