This year on World Music Day, Hyderabad saw splendid musical performances by people from all walks of life. The celebrations provided a platform for different groups and bands — be it solo artists or sibling duos, everyone took to music as a means to express their thoughts.
Engineering student, Kshiteissh Bharadwaj found his perfect musical partner in his younger sister Khyati Bharadwaj. 17-year-old Kshiteissh initially started off with an electronic keyboard before taking up the piano, pakhawaj, sitar and tabla.
He has always been versatile as a musician and has learnt a lot from his experiences.
“My experience through my performances has made me more disciplined. Time management for stage performances and planning the repertoire at different venues has also been a major takeaway,” Kshiteissh said.
The young musician enjoys the works of artists such as Beethoven, Herbert Von Karajan and Hans Zimmer.
“My goal is to be a singer cum song writer. My sister and I usually practice individually and on the days that we practice together our mother plays our biggest critic and helps us correct ourselves,” he added.
Khyati not far behind from her brother plays the keyboard, key flute, Indian bamboo flute, tabla and pakhawaj.
For the 15-year-old music initially started as a fun activity during her school days. It was only after attending a concert by renowned flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia at Chowmahalla Palace that she finally took up music seriously. “Now I take online lessons in flute from Vivek Sonar and learn tabla from Gajendra Shewalkar.” The young artist can sing in different languages such as German, Italian, Tamil and Telugu. “The best part of my music journey with my brother is that we always support and accompany each other on stage.”
Talented sisters
Sibling duos find it easier to convey their thoughts and expressions as it provides them with a sense of security when they perform together. For 15-year-old Akhila Pingali performing with her twelve year old sister Ria Pingali gives her immense joy. “Music has always been in our family, our grandfather Prabhakar Rao Pingali, a music composer has always been a guiding force for us,” Akhila said. Akhila has always been academically inclined and desires to pursue music more as a hobby than a fulltime profession. Apart from singing with her sister, Akhila also performs solo.
Younger sister Ria usually accompanies her elder sister and looks forward to giving a solo performance soon.
