When the violin speaks. Mid Day article 5/March/2008

Author: Priyadarshini Nandy Date: 05 Mar 2008

He’s no different from a teenager who loves hanging out with friends. But give him a fiddle and stick, Aneesh transforms into a mature musician

I’d never met a “prodigy” before. I didn’t know if they’re supposed to exude some kind of an aura that makes everyone around them think that they’re special.

So when I heard of Aneesh, a 17-year-old “prodigy”, a genius at the violin with super control over the strings and so on, I was perhaps expecting more than what met the eye.

He is, after all just 17 — loves his computer, cars, racing, and the usual things one would identify with a boy his age.

Aneesh has his father LSR Vidyashankar as his guru and under his tutelage, performed solo for the first time at the age of eight.

Since then, he’s had several concerts to his credit — with solo performances at ISKCON, Mysore Music Association, Ramanavami festivals, Bangalore Gayana Samaj, Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore Club, Devnandan Ubhayaker Yuva Sangeet Utsav, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, SVN Music Academy, Karnataka Gana Kala Parishat, Percussive Arts Centre, Indian Institute of World Culture, Art festival sponsored by Toursim Dept, Govt of Karnataka amongst others.

With accolades and appreciations under his belt, Aneesh has launched his first album “Pure Expressions” recently; it has some very fashionable tunes such as Vathapi, Jagada Nanda Karaka, Om Jai Jagadeesh and Raghupati Raghava.

Ask him and he’ll tell you that music comes to him naturally. “I wasn’t influenced by my father’s playing or anything. Yes, it’s true that I was inspired by him but I just picked up the instrument by instinct,” says Aneesh. “People say they’ve been moved by my playing.”

Aneesh wants what every musician wants — to impress people with his music, to charm them, make them wonder how a boy his age can play complex tunes with ease. And along with all this, he surely wants the recognition and fame.

A life of a musician can’t be easy — what starts of as an easy achievement gets tougher with time as more and more competition sets in. Aneesh has surely had fortune on his side.

With very little negative feedback to bog him down, he’s found himself at a spot where everyone appreciates him and that, he’ll tell you himself. We just hope it continues to stay that way!