Agroup of students gather to listen to Carnatic music at the University Of Illinois (UIUC) at Urbana-Champaign. They see a 19-year-old Anvita lost in her music. During summer and winter holidays, Anvita is seen quite comfortable in her own skin, clad in dhavani and gold ornaments, performing Carnatic songs on her saxophone in various temples, stages and wedding ceremonies throughout India and abroad.
Anvita Harinarayan, born to Indian parents Lakshmi Hariharan and Hariharan Ganapathy, hailing from Palakkad, was born and brought up in Chicago in the US. She started learning Vayipattu at the age of five. Soon after, she became involved with her elementary school band, playing the clarinet. This sparked her interest in wind instruments.
Saxophone caught her eye and found its way to her heart when she saw Dr Sumanth Swaminathan playing at a concert. At the age of 11, Anvita began her Carnatic saxophone training from Dr Sumanth. “I find saxophone to be a very fascinating instrument. It produces a unique sound that suits Carnatic melodies. Carnatic music is difficult to produce with other Western instruments. I love to do instruments more than vocals,” she chirps excitedly.
After one year of learning from Dr Sumanth, Anvita continued extensive training under the tutelage of the legendary saxophonist, Padmashree Kalaimamani Dr Kadri Gopalnath. Her first kacheri was in the US, four years ago. Anvita initially began performing at small venues such as local temples and festivals. She quickly began to give larger performances and concerts at venues such as the Chicago Tyagaraja Utsavam, iCarnatic, and various youth festivals.
She has also competed and won awards in several competitions held by the Cleveland Tyagaraja Festival and Chicago Tyagaraja Utsavam. Anvita continues her passion for music by travelling to India during the summer and the December season to train and perform. She finds time to make it to Chennai's December Music Season. There she has delivered concerts in several sabhas Besides that, she regularly performs concerts in and around the US.
She continues to learn from Dr Sumanth during the school year and travels to India every summer to receive advanced training from Sri Kadri Gopalnath. She also receives vocal lessons from Sri Palai C.K. Ramachandran in order to supplement her saxophone training. In addition to her performances, she teaches Carnatic music on the saxophone to several individuals in the US.
Playing saxophone is not just an art for her; she finds fun by performing for her cousins’ and friends’ weddings. “Playing for weddings is a different experience altogether. You get to see a lot of happy faces, smiles and laughter all around. It enlightens my spirits. Both, playing on stages and weddings are beautiful in their own ways,” she says, the spirit reflecting in her words.
She will be performing at Nanappa Art Gallery in Kochi today.
