'Classical Music Needs Clever Marketing To Popularise It Amongst The New Generation', Ricky Kej

Music composer Ricky Kej has added yet another feather to his illustrious cap. The three-time Grammy award winner has made his way into the Guinness Book of World Records. The composer has brought together an extraordinary ensemble of musical maestros as well as 14,000 tribal children from Odisha in an epic composition of the National Anthem. This follows a year after he conducted the 100-member Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the iconic Abbey Road studio in London, in an iconic rendition of the national anthem.

"I am constantly inspired to create different and sometimes more epic versions of the National anthem, for me, it's a cherished tune. It is a zero-controversy song, which is loved by every single person in this nation, irrespective of their ideologies, religion and the geographic location they come from. An ode to a melody that unites every single Indian.."

Bringing together musical legend Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia along with Rakesh Chaurasia, Rahul Sharma, Amaan and Ayaan Ali, Girdhar Udupa, Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh and Sheikh Mahaboob Suhani and Kaleeshabi Mahboob. Ricky Kej reveals he was overwhelmed with the support which came his way.

"It was a huge blessing. I've always had this rule in my career, that whenever I collaborate with a musician, that musician has to be better than me because that's the only way I can learn, and grow. Here it was just exemplified, by watching these musicians create magic. They beautifully interpreted the composition I had in mind, enriching it with their life experiences, music knowledge, virtuosity and skill. They took the composition to a whole new level, and that's exactly what happened with the national anthem. The notes are the same, but the way they play it, that's what makes the difference."

The choir performed at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences which is also home to 80,000 indigenous children. In his recent pursuit to impart music education, the Bangalore-based composer says it was an enriching atmosphere.

" I love music education as a concept itself. It is important to uplift the art form itself. One does not have to be a professional musician to enjoy music, but as long as our audiences have some sort of sensitization to the art form, it also encourages musicians. We can create better and don't have to constantly be weighed down by whether we need to dumb down our music, for people to understand, and appreciate what we are doing. We need to create a generation of music appreciators, and that's what we did with these 14,000 kids. We taught them the basic notes and scales, and I know each one of them will appreciate music in a much better fashion now."

Ricky Kej won his first Grammy for Winds of Samsara in 2015, followed by his second in 2022 for Divine Tides and one in 2023 for Divine Tides, in the best immersive audio album category. He confesses as an artist the awards are a validation for him.

"It is an absolute validation, but that apart also a platform for one to do bigger and better things. As an artist one wants to grow and get a wider audience, and Awards like these are an impetus to do bigger and better and help you to collaborate with people one has always wanted to as well as learn from other artists. When you win awards people recognize you a lot easier and take you more seriously."

However Ricky like many, expresses his concern and despair at the lack of appreciation of Indian classical music these days. The popularity of Bollywood and other popular forms of music, with their well-oiled marketing machinery, has resulted in the lack of appreciation and loss of patronage of the classical forms. He calls for a concentrated effort in preserving and valuing the country's rich classical heritage.

"Classical musicians have truly broken cultural barriers everywhere in the world, and they reached out to audiences that would normally not be exposed to Indian culture and Indian music. Today when a Bollywood musician performs anywhere in the world, they can fill up stadiums, and theatres and get a packed audience. But the only people who show up for their concerts are people from the Indian diaspora. Bollywood, no matter what anybody says, has not broken cultural barriers. Whereas, if you look at a person like Pt Ravi Shankar, his demographic was diverse, it wasn't just Indians but as well as foreigners. These days whether it is Bollywood or the pop music industry, they have a huge marketing machinery. People these days only listen to the music you give them, and that all stems from marketing, streaming etc. We need to put in efforts to make classical music accessible to people and devise a strategy to popularise it amongst the new generation. Sadly, our gatekeepers feel the audience is very comfortable with what they are being fed."

As scientists and neurologists proclaim the healing effects of listening to classical music, Ricky Kej's next project pertains to mental health and music.