Singer Soumya Varanasi ‘paints a picture’ for the audience with her fusion tunes

“There is a very fine line between tampering compositions and enhancing them,” says singer Soumya Varanasi when we call her up to talk about her second episode of Kutcheri Project by Soma. After the roaring success of Kutcheri Project 1, she comes up with another episode with a surprise theme ‘paint a picture’. Known for interesting amalgamations between Carnatic and western music, she presents a different theme with every project of hers where she experiments with fusing Carnatic and other genres of music, and what inspires her is meeting musicians of different genres which to her “feels like a 3D-4D” experience.

Having experimented with Reggae, Hip-Hop and, electronic before, Soumya is excited to experiment with the Oud and Rabab instrument for this project, and to collaborate with young musicians. She describes the idea of uniting diverse cultures without compromising their essence as Dhruvam, meaning ‘sounds that last forever.’

Talking about her journey, the artiste tells us, “In 2018, I started teaching a few students who were initially not focusing too much on the essence of the craft, but how they can use it to their benefit; like to win a competition or sing for a film song. After a few months, once we built a rapport, their questions and curiosity inspired me to do something new for them, to take our culture and tradition forward.”

Soumya put this thought into action by producing music on YouTube. Her first experiment was with a Varnam, where she used a cello alongside. She realised that she is going on the right track when she saw her four-year-old son listening to the track multiple times a day.

Another incident which validated her efforts was when after one of her shows, “four people came to me and said that although they were dragged to this concert, they were leaving with a very happy heart, with an induced interest in Carnatic music.”

 Tickets at ₹499. September 29, 7.30 pm. At District 150, Madhapur.

Story by Ananya Mehta