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Aishu - Divine Strings

Aishu Venkataraman, South Indian Violinist
www.divinestrings.com

About South Indian Music

"In Aishwarya, nature seems to have
treasured a worthy successor to the
current four violin giants."
- Star of Mysore

Aishu, born Aishwarya Venkataraman, has quickly grown from a child prodigy into one of the most virtuosic interpreters of South Indian music in the world. After taking up the violin at age 2, she commenced her studies of South Indian music two years later under the tutelage of the eminent violin maestro T. N. Krishnan. Widely regarded as the Yehudi Menuhin of the East, Krishnan has selected Aishu to be his next protege - an honor of the highest magnitude. While continuing to play South Indian Classical Music, Aishu has recently begun jazz performance studies with a full scholarship at Berklee College of Music. At age 13, she carries the unique distinction of being the youngest person accepted into this four-year college (click here to read her Berklee profile). Aishu's tonal quality, spectral purity and strong bowing technique are the hallmarks of her performance style, and her playing has moved audiences around the world.
Hear Aishu's recent interview on PRI's The World Selected Appearances Quotes

	"She took the audience to South India with a combination of sound and vision notwithstanding her youth. Aishu opened her heart up and presented her humanity through this medium which just happens to be a violin. I have no more to say because this is the way we felt that evening: 'An Die Musik Live' was alive."
	- George Manning, An Die Musik!
	Read a recent feature in the Press-Telegram Read about Aishu in Senses Magazine Read the review in Star of Mysore Hear an interview (Program 8 on crossingeast.org)
Aishu is currently working to raise funds for the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Baylor College of Medicine. Read Aishu's appeal

Aishu's father, Vinod (V.R.) Venkataraman, is a professional Mridangam (South Indian percussion drum) player and a professor of Applied Mathematics. A native of Bombay, India, Vinod has served as an integral collaborator with many legendary Indian performers including acclaimed musicians Professor T. N. Krishnan, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Gottuvadyam Ravi Kiran, and Flutist Shri K.S. Gopalakrishnan. He has extensively toured with jazz greats Hubert Laws, Stephane Grapelli, Larry Coryell, Alice Coltrane, and Emil Richards. Aishu's mother Srividya Venkataraman, from Madras, India is a family physician practicing medicine in Long Beach, California.

Home for Aishu is a place of music; her days are filled with the sounds of artists like T.N. Krishnan, Ravi Shankar, John Coltrane, Stephane Grappelli, Ella Fitzgerald, and Andre Rieu among many others. At Berklee, she is working extensively with Professor Marc Rossi, who is composing a piece specifically for Aishu. Her vision is to fuse elements of South Indian music with jazz, in essence creating a musical genre all her own. Follow Aishu's musical journey on the web at www.divinestrings.com.