A sitar-sarod symphony

A chat with the Mohan Brothers who are making a name for themselves with their many experimentations and collaborations with artistes such as Anoushka Shankar.

With their mastery over sitar and sarod, the Mohan Brothers have made a remarkable name for themselves in the world of classical music. Although they don’t come from a large musical family, Lakshay and Aayush Mohan developed a keen interest in music thanks to their father who was an amateur sitarist. Now, with the perfect amalgamation of Indian sounds, Lakshay (on sitar) and Aayush (on sarod) are enthralling music lovers across the world. Excerpts from an interview

Tell us a bit about your journey into music...

Lakshay: My first exposure to classical music was through my father, who would occasionally play the sitar. I was inclined to explore it more and got my first sitar lesson from him. Since then, my curiosity to know more about the sitar and the miraculous feeling of being able to produce highly expressive music on this super-versatile instrument has only made my commitment to it stronger.

Aayush: I started learning the instrument when I was very young. At that time, I was fascinated by its looks and sound.

As I grew up, I was more attracted by the deep resonating character of the instrument. Today, the sitar has a global appeal and isn’t just confined to Indian sounds.

Who are your inspirations?

We listen to all the great masters of vocal and instrumental music but the music of Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Nikhil Banerjee fascinated us and inspired us to take to classical music.

How important is it to preserve music in all its originality?

It is quite natural for all art forms to evolve with time and classical music has always been changing gradually over the years. But evolving does not mean that it loses its identity and originality completely in order to cater to an audience unaware of its true form. If that happens, it would be a disaster because we would be depriving future generations of the true feel or experience of our music.

To avoid that, listeners also need to be educated about the basic aspects of classical music so that they can appreciate the greatness of this form.

You collaborated with many illustrious artistes and interacted with the likes of Pandit Ravi Shankar and Pandit Jasraj. Tell us more about your experience.

Yes, we have collaborated with Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt at ‘The String Trinity’ concert and American cellist Barry Phillips at The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. The most memorable day of our life was when we met Pandit Ravi Shankar after our performance at his centre in 2012 and our conversation with him that night will stay with us forever. We are fortunate that he appreciated our music so much and feel he would have blessed us with further learning had he lived more.

When the great legendary vocalist Pandit Jasraj had a chance to listen to our performance in 2010, he was so overwhelmed that he surprised everyone by coming to the stage and expressing his appreciation in front of a large audience. This humble gesture of his inspired us to work more to enrich our music.

Which has been your most memorable concert?

Though we have performed in more than 15 cities in North America, Conservatory of Music in Beijing and almost every major city in India, our most memorable performances overseas were at the Grammy Museum, Los Angeles and the Royal Festival Hall, London.

At the Grammy Museum, we performed a piece composed by Ravi Shankar as it was the opening of a year-long exhibition on his life and music. We collaborated with the Grammy-winning American cellist Barry Phillips. The concert was attended by many renowned Western musicians and dignitaries and was very well-received. It was an enlightening experience for us.

Recently, we performed at the Royal Festival Hall with Anoushka Shankar and other eminent musicians as a part of the Pandit Ravi Shankar centenary concert. Another memorable concert was at Sawai Gandharva Mahotsav in Pune where our performance was greatly appreciated by music lovers.