An artist used to playing as an accompaniment in star studded concerts, Kitha Balakrishnan has put together a repertoire musical arrangement portfolio to perform as solo artist.

The Infinite Road is a new 90 min carnatic violin concert piece in which Kitha explores her identity and journey within, and of her genre. “I am seeking a mindset in which I am released from the conventional rigid structure and expectation of recital and appreciation of ‘how well can I play my instrument technically’ and instead I want to explore expression and making statement”

This approach is against the convention of the genre, but expressing a message in her music is high on her mind

– “In the piece I will be using highly established notes and ornamentations (gamakams), but apply them to a non-traditional structure. I want to use traditional structure to draw the familiarity and convention, but I swiftly move away with progressions of notes that transpose me to my own reference – where I aim to engage the listener. I will use the meanings, stories and symbolism behind Carnatic music to portray a musical journey so that the listener is not only engaged in the movement, but also enlightened through the process”

Developed by zerOclassikal, The Infinite Rd started as a work in progress showcasing at Tara Theatre as part of the carnatic music series in 2018. Since then a number of venues/ organisations have picked interest for their  programming initially for 2019/20 seasons – however that will now change to 2022.

Kitha will be starting a Project Blog shortly here