A Carnatic music experiment in Chennai: What ENS3MBLE is all about

.Three Carnatic musicians, G Ravi Kiran, Rithvik Raja and Vignesh Ishvar, collaborate for 'ENS3MBLE' concert in Chennai, an experimental concept exploring the many roles of the voice

In October 2022, three Carnatic musicians — G Ravi Kiran, Rithvik Raja and Vignesh Ishvar — recorded a Muthuswami Dikshitar composition in the raga Gamakakriya, and put out a video.

This piece of music was loved by many, but one among those listeners —Mahesh Venkateswaran of Madrasana —wanted to take it a little further. He requested the trio for a full-fledged concert, which is to take place this weekend, thanks to Sruti Magazine, celebrating its 40th year currently.

In memory of the magazine’s founder, N Pattabhi Raman, the three singers will be coming together for ‘ENS3MBLE’, along with HN Bhaskar (violin), Praveen Sparsh (mridangam), N Guruprasad (ghatam) and V Anirudh Athreya (khanjira).

This experimental concert, billed as an experiment, hopes to explore the idea of what the voice means. The voice usually plays the lead role in a traditional ensemble, but this concept delves into myriad roles that it can play. “We have heard jugalbandis before, but that is usually putting together performers of different genres. Here, we have three vocalists from the same musical school (TM Krishna’s students) experimenting with their voices together,” asks Sukanya Sankar, the magazine’s managing trustee.

Mahesh of Madrasana, which has played a key role in taking Carnatic music to newer sets of audiences in the last few years, says that this 100-minute concert will present experimental pieces. “In traditional kutcheris, we rarely hear just the voice. They are usually accompanied by a percussion instrument or the violin. Here, we have a voice separately and at times, paired with another.”

Singer Rithvik Raja explains that this coming together of three voices provides a lot of musical opportunities. “We plan to start the concert with just our vocals and without a microphone, and gradually bring in the instruments into play as well,” says Rithvik, who is looking forward to the Kamas Thillana that also has some pre-recorded portions, thus making it possible to open many musical layers.

Rithvik is super excited about performing along with his peers. “It will be like a conversation between voices. Carnatic music itself is a collaborative experience where different musicians come together on stage, and ENS3MBLE takes that concept forward. When different artistes team up, the impact that it can create on audiences is on a different level.”