From Pandit Jasraj’s Student to Royal Albert Hall: The Journey of Violinist Kala Ramnath

A lot of people wouldn’t likely remember what they were doing when they were two-and-a-half years old, but Kala Ramnath does. She had begun training in violin, carrying on a tradition of music in her Kerala-origin family. A seventh generation musician, Ramnath was trained at first by her grandfather, Vidwan A. Narayan Iyer. “He trained me completely in terms of technique, which helped me find my voice later in life, call it in terms of figuring out the right way or in terms of technique to produce my unique sound,” she says.  

As far as mentors and gurus go, that was only the beginning for the violinist-singer who has since gone on to become a formidable name both at home and abroad, with her technique of rendering raagas and the most intricate classical vocal melodies on to violin. Ramnath certainly took the long road to finding creativity, but she found many supporters along the way. She recounts idolizing her aunt, violinist N. Rajam at first, but tabla legend Zakir Hussain heard Ramnath and advised her to “create my own sound.” She explains, “He said when the original is there, why will anyone want to listen to an imitation? That got stuck in my head. I needed to find the right person or guru to take advanced training to achieve my goal.” The next 15 years were spent training with one of Hindustani classical music’s most lauded vocalists, Pandit Jasraj. “Learning from him helped me create a unique style of reproducing the voice on the violin, it thus being called the ‘Singing Violin,’” Ramnath says.  

It’s a form of playing that the violinist took beyond the Indian classical style, performing with Ray Manzarek of The Doors back in 1996 in Los Angeles and working with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, London Symphony and several more. In addition to featuring on a Grammy-winning album, violinist Hilary Hahn and pianist Cory Smythe’s 2013 collaborative record In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores, Ramnath has been a regular with saxophonist George Brooks since 2000. Between them, they have jazz-fusion and chamber music projects like Global Conversation and Elements (the latter includes harpist Gwyneth Wentink). Elements recently regrouped for a performance at the World Harp Congress in Cardiff in July. “I love the challenge of working with different genres as I feel it makes me a better musician… Every musician or violinist I meet, I always feel there is a lot to learn from each one of them. For example, I have tried to incorporate western bowing techniques in my music,” she says. 

In July this year, Ramnath was part of a unique collaboration at the Elgar Room at London’s Royal Albert Hall. She performed an interpretation of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo’s works, with the likes of tabla artist Sanju Sahai, singer-songwriter Shapla Salique and spoken-word artist Shree Ganguly. 

The pandemic and its ensuing lockdowns gave Ramnath more time to pursue teaching and take on recordings remotely. That included a taping for a T.V. show called Now Hear This on PBS in the U.S. and releasing an album called Aasha, which “speaks about the story of Covid with only music” as Ramnath puts it. She adds, “The other thing I did was take this break to take care of my health, which I was neglecting. So overall, I took it positively and worked on myself personally and musically.” Ramnath will be back in the U.K. in September for a performance with the BBC Concert Orchestra and is also slated to record a collaboration with Pakistan’s violin duo, Leo Twins, who have been part of live performance show Nescafe Basment, for their YouTube channel.