While pianist Anand Seshadri hasn’t met with meteoric success as yet, the promising 27-year-old musician is well on his way to becoming a keyboard sensation — the alumnus of the prestigious Franz Liszt Academy of Music gets chatty with Bengaluru Chronicle, post his recent performance in the city about how he believes the ‘Luru has a (soulful) heart of its own and lots more...
Despite his first encounter with the keyboard early on, Anand devoted time for music only on the side. “I started playing piano at the age of 12. But, it was never the mainstream plan. Like most Indian guys, I completed engineering with distinction in 2011. But my passion was always in music, so I’ve been taking private lessons under Thangadurai Samuel (guitarist) alongside my studies. Under him, I completed Grade 8 (Theory and practical) and LTCL in piano,” shares Anand, who then decided to pursue a full-fledged degree from Birmingham Conservatoire, UK post an audition. Speaking of the same, he adds, “I completed master of music with distinction under pianists David Quigley and Katharine Lam. Subsequently, I studied at the Prestigious Franz Liszt Academy of music, Budapest under Jeno jando and Dr. David ball. The art of shaping, phrasing adding tone and colour are some of the things that I learnt in these institutions. I am still learning them and will continue to learn even if I become a concert pianist. A mind to learn new things always opens doors, one should never feel he/she knows everything in life, if that is the case that person closes gate for himself/herself (saturation point occurs,” he says. Looks like the accolades didn’t stop at that.
Early this year, in January, Anand procured a full scholarship from the reputed Whalen Centre of music, Ithaca College, United States under Dr. Charis Dimaras (Past pupil of prestigious Juliiard) to continue his music studies. About what he draws his inspiration from, Anand adds, “Beethoven and Brahms are my favourite composers. I usually include compositions by them in my concerts.”
Speaking about his memories Bengaluru, Anand believes the connect with Bengaluru is a rather strange one. “ Unfortunately, I’ve had no personal connection with the city. But, for some reason, there’s always been a fascination to perform here. Even as I performed in the city last week, which was my first concert in Bengaluru, I was unusually at ease and something told me it would tick. And, the responses were very heartening. This city is genuinely metropolitan, and the openness and receptiveness that an artiste gets irrespective of the genre is what I think is worthy of admiring. I appreciate the receptiveness of Bengalureans and how flexible they are about giving musicians a chance,” shares Anand.
With an innate passion for vedic literature as well, the pianist tells us how his creative downtime revolves around the same. “Listening to vedantic lectures from monks of Ramakrishna math and other great ancient sages. I usually try to find connection between spirituality, life and music,” he adds. When quizzed about what’s next on the anvil, he concludes by stating, “In August, I’ll will be going back to the US (I got a full scholarship in January) where I will be continuing my studies. This year there were many concerts in the US – solo, piano four hands, concert with orchestra. My long term ambition is to become a concert pianist (Classical music)and composer. There’s a long way, but I’m equipped to take on the challenge.”
