Bengaluru flautist set for Ilaiyaraaja tribute concert

Multi-genre flautist Ashwini Koushik is presenting a tribute concert to the maestro Ilaiyaraaja.

The multi-lingual orchestral creation features a 20-piece band.

Metrolife asked her what prompted her to take up an ambitious three-and -a-half-hour tribute.

Why Ilaiyaraaja? 

The maestro’s compositions capture the minds of the people the first time they hear them, but for a musician, performing them is an extraordinary task. It is a masterclass in playing techniques and expressing emotions. The more one plays Ilaiyaraaja’s music, the better a musician becomes. His non-film albums, especially ‘Nothing but Wind’ and ‘How to Name it’, are uniquely layered and blended and require extreme efforts to understand each layer and perform. As a team, we worked on it for more than three months and then got together to see if it even sounded right. The moment we played it, we knew it would be welcomed by people.

How many such tribute shows have you done so far?

When invited to perform, I mostly play Ilaiyaraaja’s music as I am consumed by it totally. ‘Enchanting Ilaiyaraaja’, the show I conduct, narrate, and perform, is in its third edition now — the first two were in 2019 and 2022. 

Who is collaborating with you and how do you prepare?

We have some of the finest musicians from Karnataka. The show also features some musicians performing with the maestro currently, and some of them who originally recorded the songs back in the day — including percussionist Jaycha Singaram, drummer Derick, and keyboardists Manuel and David.

Has Ilaiyaraaja heard and reacted to your music? 

After the first performance went live on YouTube, he saw the videos. He then called me to record in his new studio in Chennai. That was really a moment of true joy for me. I recorded alongside the legendary flautist Napoleon, cellist V C Shekar, and so many other top-class musicians that day. I had never been in such a musically rich environment.

Tell us about yourself and your musical training, influences, dreams…

I learned Carnatic music from various teachers in Bengaluru and Chennai. The finishing school in Carnatic music, so to speak, was with N Ramani, from whom I learnt for about 10 years. I quite reluctantly switched to film music in 2013, as I had, like most other classical musicians, thought of it as a step or two lower than the classical arts. But, luckily for me, the first song I had to play was an Ilaiyaraaja song, the lyrics of which literally said ‘I am sending you kumkum, come and play the music I have for you’. That’s it. From then on, there has been no looking back. Ilaiyaraaja’s music took me to him and to where I am today. All credit goes to him.

‘Enchanting Ilaiyaraaja’, Nov 25, 6.30 pm, Prestige Srihari Khoday Centre for Performing Arts, Konanakunte. Tickets online.