LalgudiVijayalakshmi
A fifth generation musician of the illustrious Lalgudi bani, Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, daughter and disciple of legendary musician Lalgudi G Jayaraman, is an artiste who engages deeply and variedly with her music. As a violinist, she performs solo, duets and accompanies leading vocalists. She also collaborates with artistes across genres. She is also an accomplished vocalist, composer, and teacher. More recently, as founder of Krutagnya, Vijayalakshmi has been conceiving and initiating and projects that help create awareness about music and its many aspects among the general public and the lesser privileged. With a sparkling four decades long journey in music, Vijayalakshmi has been recognized for her numerous meritorious accomplishments with a string of awards and accolades. Among her various recognitions, a compliment she holds particularly special is one from Pandit Ravi Shankar ji, the legendary sitar maestro. The maestro attended one of her performances in person, and at the end of the concert, blessed her and said “You have your father’s fingers.”
Among the many accolades and awards Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi has earned in her journey as a musician, there is one she holds close to her heart – a compliment from Bharat Ratna Pandit Ravi Shankar, who was the guest of honour at her performance at the Indian Fine Arts Academy of San Diego, United States, in 2015. Following her performance, Panditji offered his blessings, took her hands into his own, and said “You have your father’s fingers. Your music has touched my soul.”
Soulful is an apt word to describe the music of Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, a fifth generation musician of the illustrious Lalgudi bani, and an artiste who wears many hats. A violinist par excellence and a vocalist of repute, her performing career is as versatile and varied as her talent; a solo artiste, alter ego and violin duo partner of her brother Lalgudi GJR Krishnan, himself a virtuoso with absolute mastery over his music. The duo has travelled all over the world participating in various prestigious music festivals.
Vijayalakshmi also provides violin accompaniment to other well-known vocalists and musicians –Aruna Sairam, Sudha Raghunathan, T. V. Gopalakrishnan, O. S. Thiagarajan, Vijay Siva and Chitravina Ravikiran, Malladi Brothers, Abhishek Raghuram to name a few – complementing their music and enhancing the overall musical experience with her sensitive accompaniment.
Daughter and disciple of the legendary maestro Padma Bhushan Sri Lalgudi G Jayaraman, Vijayalakshmi’s foray into the world of music was but natural. Born into a household steeped in music and growing up with music as her constant companion, Vijayalakshmi gravitated towards music, showing promise and potential even as a toddler. When she turned five, her father, a guru par excellence, initiated her into the world of the violin, allowing her to discover a world of music that he had so inimitably made his own. At thirteen, she made her formal stage debut. As she stepped out of her teens, Vijayalakshmi unfurled into the world an artiste who could perform solo, collaborate and share stage space with the menfolk in her home. Quiet and dignified, her music sparkled with a style and character of its own – rooted and resilient, free-flowing and flexible, a graceful blend of emotions and empathy in abundance.
In 1990, a 30-city tour around North America set off her soulful journey as a performing artiste, with a slew of trios, duets and solos. She hasn’t looked back since. Vijayalakshmi is today regarded as a torchbearer of the Lalgudi bani, taking tradition forward, without in the least compromising its core.
Over the years, Vijayalakshmi has travelled far and wide with her violin and voice, allowing people across the world – USA, Canada, the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia Middle East, and Russia – to soak in the magic of her music.
Vijayalakshmi’s vocal performances are perhaps the most authentic vocal representation of the Lalgudi bani. She has released a host of albums as a vocalist. She has sung in the movie ‘Sringaram’, for which her legendary father scored music.
Her music has won her awards and accolades aplenty – Yuva Kala Bharathi from Bharat Kalachar, Chennai; Sangeetha Kalasagara from Kalasagaram, Hyderabad; Sangeetha Choodamani from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai; Tantri Nada Mani from his Holiness Swami Jayendra Saraswathi of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, Kanchipuram; Award for Excellence from Maharajapuram Santhanam Foundation, Chennai; Best Accompanist Award from The Music Academy, Chennai; Kalki Krishnamoorthy Memorial Award
from Kalki Krishnamurthy Foundation, Chennai; Indira Sivasailam Endowment award jointly from The Indira Sivasailam Foundation and The Music Academy, Chennai, Nada Vallabha from Nada Sudha, Chennai. Recently the Shanmukhananda Sabha, Mumbai conferred on Vijayalakshmi and her brother Krishnan the National Eminence Award for 2020.
Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi is an A-top ranked artist of the All India Radio.
Along the course of her career, Vijayalakshmi has collaborated with musicians across classical genres and has dabbled in the world of fusion too. She has also shared stage in jugalbandis with Hindustani musicians – Violin maestro Sitar maestro Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan, Slide guitarist Sri Debasish Bhattacharya, Vidushi Kala Ramnath, Sarangi artiste Ustad Murad Ali, Flautist Pandit Pravin Godkhindi, to name a few.
One among her several projects is a music ensemble – Violin, Venu (flute) and Veena. In 2009, Vijayalakshmi led a first-of-its-kind, all-women Violin-Venu-Veena ensemble on a very successful concert tour of the United States performing over 15 concerts. Interestingly, VVV as a concept was pioneered by Sri Lalgudi G Jayaraman.
Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi is making a mark as a composer as well, with more than a few thillanas and varnams to her credit. In the year 2017, Vijayalakshmi and her brother Lalgudi GJR Krishnan composed both lyrics and music for a full-length dance drama ‘Sambhavami Yuge Yuge’, which was premiered in Cleveland and won the appreciation of many dance exponents. She has also set to tune the works of Adi Shankaracharya, Mahakavi Bharathiyar, Shuddhananda Bharati.
In September 2017, Vijayalakshmi staged an innovative thematic presentation ‘Pancha Bhootham’, in Dallas, USA. She composed five orchestral musical pieces for this presentation depicting the five elements – earth, water, fire, wind and ether. She worked with over 50 high school music students for many months and got them to perform with her on stage. The program was a huge success and won much appreciation.
Vijayalakshmi’s creativity has found expression in over 100 poems in English and Tamil on a variety of themes including nature and music. She has set some of her Tamil poems to tune herself. Besides winning many hearts around the world, her poetry has also caught the attention of the music and dance fraternity. In 2018, for instance, leading Bharathanatyam dancer Vidhya Subramanian gave a performance exclusively on Vijayalakshmi’s Tamil poems.
Vijayalakshmi is a teacher with empathy – she loves sharing her music with a diverse set of students, many of whom are readying to take flight on their own in the world of Carnatic music.
She has delivered many well-researched and meaningful lectures on various aspects pertaining to the music and the Lalgudi bani.
In 2014, Vijayalakshmi launched Krutagnya (Sanskrit for gratitude), a trust aimed at making music more accessible to the less privileged, creating awareness about various aspects of music through a series of lectures and workshops, and providing a stage for budding violinists from different schools to showcase their talent.
In 2020 & 2021, Vijayalakshmi, along with her brother Lalgudi Krishnan, raised funds with the support of rasikas, through several online performances, to support the needy, underprivileged whose livelihoods were affected by the pandemic.
