Ragini Shankar Explained

Ragini Shankar
Birth Place:Varanasi, India
Instrument:Violin
Genre:Hindustani classical music, fusion
Occupation:Violinist

Ragini Shankar is an Indian violinist who performs Hindustani classical music and fusion. She is the grand-daughter of the renowned Padmabhushan Dr. N. Rajam.[1] and the daughter of Dr. Sangeeta Shankar

Early life

She began her training at the age of 4 and gave her first public performance as an 11-year-old. She plays violin in the Gayaki Ang, a revolutionary technique to reproduce vocal music on the violin.

Education

Shankar excelled in her education in mechanical engineering and also holds a master's degree in music.[2]

Performing career

She has performed in various prestigious festivals like the Europalia, MERU, Netherlands,[3] Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Festival,[4] Dover Lane Music Conference,[5] Saptak Festival of Music,[6] Theatre de la Ville, Paris,[7] Theatre de l'Alhambra, Geneva, Switzerland,[8] MilapFest,[9] Yaksha (festival),[10] Aarohi for Pancham Nishad, Jaya Smriti organised by Hema Malini, Temple of Fine Arts, Bengal Music Foundation.[11]

She has performed in several countries abroad; the USA,[12] Canada,[13] UK,[14] Netherlands,[15] Switzerland, [16] Germany, France,[17] Belgium,[18] Hungary, Singapore,[19] Malaysia and Dubai.[20] Ragini gives lecture demonstrations and conducts workshops on a regular basis during her travels.

She is known for her collaborations with various artists in diverse genres. Ragini and hersister Nandini Shankar have been signed by Decca Records US, a part of Universal MusicGroup for a full-length music album for their musical ensemble ‘Taraana’.[21] [22] She is a part of the renowned Bollywood lyricist Irshad Kamil’s The Ink Band, a series of poetry interwoven with music.[23] [24] She is also a part of an Indo-French musical project called Sangata, formed by the noted French composer Thierry Pecou[25] and was covered in an article in Le Monde.[26] Her recent collaborations include inStrings, an innovative fusion band, giving a new sound to popular Indian tunes.[27]

Ragini is arecipient of the distinguished Aditya Birla Kala Kiran Award[28] and the Jashn-e-Youngistan [29] [30] Award presented by the Vice President of India.She was a faculty at Whistling Woods International School of Music in Mumbai for 6 years and currently teaches at the Rajam School of Violin.[31] She has appeared on the platform of Talks at Google[32] and Tedx[33] for her talks on Indian music.

She resides in Mumbai.

Awards and honours

Aditya Birla Kala Kiran Award,presented by Rajashree Birla, 2019[34]

Jashn-e-Youngistan presented by the Vice-President of India, Venkaiah Naidu, 2018[35] [36]

Jaya Smriti presented by film actress and dancer, Hema Malini, 2012

Discography

!Month/Year of Release!Name!Genre!Artist(s)!Type!Label
March 2023Indian RiversIndian FusionRagini Shankar, Nandini ShankarSingle (Album:Taraana)Decca Records US, Universal Music Group
February 2023The Land of SpiceIndian FusionRagini Shankar, Nandini ShankarSingle (Album:Taraana)Decca Records US, Universal Music Group
October 2021Vaishnava Jana ToIndian Semi-ClassicalRagini ShankarSingleLegendary Legacy Promotions Pvt. Ltd.
January 2021VibeIndian FusionRagini ShankarSingleLegendary Legacy Promotions Pvt. Ltd.
July 2020LongingIndian FusionRagini ShankarSingleLegendary Legacy Promotions Pvt. Ltd.
March 2020Neelambari LiveIndian FusionSandeep Narayan, Ragini ShankarAlbumSounds of Isha
January 2020Vande MaataramIndian Semi-ClassicalSangeeta Shankar, Ragini Shankar, Nandini ShankarSingleLegendary Legacy Promotions Pvt. Ltd.
May 2019Wings in the SkyIndian FusionRagini ShankarSingleLegendary Legacy Promotions Pvt. Ltd.
October 2019Devi Bhajan in Raga RageshriIndian Semi-ClassicalRagini Shankar, Ojas AdhiyaAlbumLegendary Legacy Promotions Pvt. Ltd.
September 2019Raga of the RainIndian ClassicalRagini Shankar, Ojas AdhiyaAlbumLegendary Legacy Promotions Pvt. Ltd.
April 2014AshaIndian ClassicalRagini Shankar, Mukundraj DeoAlbumLegendary Legacy Promotions Pvt. Ltd.

References

  1. [N. Rajam]
  2. Web site: Meet Dr Sangeeta Shankar and her daughters Ragini and Nandini Shankar, who weave magic with their violins.
  3. Web site: MERU Concert - Ragini Shankar on violin - Raga Bihag . .

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  7. Web site: Theatre de la Ville, Paris; Paris.
  8. Web site: Theatre de l'Alhambra, Geneva; Switzerland.
  9. Web site: Indika: Evening Raga – Ragini & Nandini Shankar | Milapfest. 30 October 2018. 20 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200920114455/https://www.milapfest.com/events/indika-evening-raga-ragini-nandini-shankar/. dead.
  10. Yaksha (festival)
  11. Web site: Violins charm Bengal classical fest. 30 November 2015.
  12. https://www.skidmore.edu/zankel/documents/Jan2017-ZankelSpringBrochure.pdf<br />- https://muse.union.edu/music/ragini-shankar-violin/
  13. live. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211208/Pc3WBdwQV30. 2021-12-08. Viloin Concert by Dr.N Rajam,at Sringeri Vidya Bharathi Temple - Toronto . YouTube.
  14. Web site: Indika: Evening Raga – Ragini & Nandini Shankar | Milapfest . 30 October 2018 . 20 September 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200920114455/https://www.milapfest.com/events/indika-evening-raga-ragini-nandini-shankar/ . dead .
  15. Web site: MERU .
  16. Web site: Theatre de l'Alhambra, Geneva; Switzerland.
  17. https://detoursdebabel.fr/Sangata-1057
    - https://www.indeenfrance.com/lille.php/lille-lire/ragini-shankar-en-concert
  18. https://europalia.eu/archives/india/en/article/three-generations_141.html
    - http://www.art-base.be/index.php?view=details&id=593%3Atemplate-concert&option=com_eventlist
  19. https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18588
  20. Web site: Gulftoday.ae | Sisters in perfect accord . 2018-10-30 . 2018-10-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181031005201/http://gulftoday.ae/portal/eb181127-586f-40ea-bf9c-0d0e112db736.aspx . dead .
  21. Web site: live . Apr 28, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230428211135/https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai-guide/things-to-do/article/sister-act-23275139 . Shriram Iyengar . 14 March 2023 . . en . 11 August 2023 . Violinists Ragini and Nandini Shankar's debut album infuses global sounds .
  22. Taraana . en . 12 August 2023 . The Land Of Spice . 2023 . YouTube.
  23. News: Rahman launches Irshad Kamil's INK Band music series . Business Standard India . 21 March 2018 .
  24. Web site: Aise Na Dekho (Extended Version) | | the Ink Band by Irshad Kamil | Season 1 . .
  25. Web site: Ensemble Variances - Sangâta . www.ensemblevariances.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20181030205828/http://www.ensemblevariances.com/en/projects/sangata.html . 2018-10-30.
  26. News: " Sangâta ", le nouveau râga occidental de Thierry Pécou. Le Monde.fr. 30 March 2018.
  27. Web site: Indika: InStrings | Milapfest. 30 October 2018. 27 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200927173659/https://www.milapfest.com/events/indika-instrings/. dead.
  28. Web site: Aditya Birla Kala Kiran Award.
  29. Web site: Dailyhunt.
  30. Web site: Dailyhunt.
  31. Web site: Faculty | Whistling Woods International .
  32. Web site: Talks at Google | Google. .
  33. Web site: TEDxGCEK | TED.
  34. Web site: Aditya Birla Kala Kiran Award.
  35. Web site: Dailyhunt.
  36. Web site: Dailyhunt.