Rajna Swaminathan - Part 7

For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)
Episode 171: Rajna Swaminathan - Part 7

In this week’s episode, we talk to Rajna Swaminathan about growing up with a musical sibling and family. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Rajna Swaminathan, check her out here: https://www.rajnaswaminathan.com/. This episode was originally recorded in January 2024.

This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!

Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano),  as part of “Below the Surface: Music by Women Composers,” January 29, 2022
Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Alchemy,” October 15, 2021

Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.
Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903729/episodes/17691945

Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness
Co-producer and Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann
Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes

Interns: Renata Volchinskaya, Sam Mason, Yoyo Hung-Yu Lin

Chapters

• 0:22 In this week's episode, we continue our conversation with Rajna Swaminathan, who we spoke to in January 2024.
• 0:31 Do you perform together or compose for each other? What was it like growing up with a musical sibling? Competitive? Supportive?

Transcript

Nanette McGuinness  00:00

[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists sponsored by a grant from the California Arts Council. I'm Nanette McGuinness, Artistic Executive Director of Ensemble for These Times. In this week's episode, we continue our conversation with Rajna Swaminathan, who we spoke to in January 2024. [INTRO MUSIC ENDS]

Nanette McGuinness  00:31

Do you perform together or compose for each other? What was it like growing up with a musical sibling? Competitive? Supportive? 

Rajna Swaminathan  00:40

All of the above, probably. [laughs] So we both, yeah, we both were brought up in the carnetic scene. There's, there's a Carnetic approach to the violin, and it's becoming absorbed into the...into the sort of mainstay of how carnetic music is performed. It's, you know, different technique, sort of different tuning. So you sit down and you play it. And so they were, you know, they're a little younger than me, but we were basically performing a lot together when we were younger. And obviously came from a musical family, a lot of our both our parents and also extended family being musicians. I think it was just, it was overwhelming, just like how much music was centered and, yeah, I think perhaps we were clubbed together a lot, you know, to the point where it's really over the last, I'd say 10 years, we've tried to find our individual, independent voices and paths and interests, but it's hard being clubbed together and be like, "Alright, well, you just have each other and you're going to perform together for for the rest of your lives." 

Nanette McGuinness  03:22

[laughs] 

Rajna Swaminathan  01:55

It feels a bit like, "Okay, who are we?" Outside of this, like, obviously very productive siblinghood and very like inspiring sibling hood, because I've been super deeply inspired by them and their approach to the violin as I was building rajas. Their...you know, the way that they approached the violin was so central to how I imagined that music. We have people who are trained in Indian music, but who have such an open approach to it, and also who are constantly absorbing other kinds of techniques they would bring in, like extended techniques on the violin that are never used in the Carnatic context, but that they sort of found through working with improvisers and even kind of thinking about classical techniques. And I'd say that, you know, over the last 10 years, we've both been trying to find our independent paths more than anything else. I mean, it would be nice to come back together at some point. So I hope that happens. But for now, I think it's been just really nice to see how they're headed because they're they have a different approach, even to notation and everything. They're done a lot of studying into how to notate ornaments that are very specific to Indian music, and find a way to articulate that through working with classical string players. So they've done, they've gone in that direction, 

Nanette McGuinness  03:29

Interesting. 

Rajna Swaminathan  03:30

Really, finding new notational languages. But they've also done, you know, work involving graphic scores. And so in a lot of ways, our work is parallel. 

Nanette McGuinness  03:40

Yeah. 

Rajna Swaminathan  03:42

So, yeah. I mean I have a lot of respect for them, and hugely inspiring person in my life. And yeah, so it was, it's a overall, I should say it's a positive thing to have someone like that...

Nanette McGuinness  03:45

[laughs]

Rajna Swaminathan  03:45

...to you know, despite the complications of family as they're always there. But like, you know, just having someone like that, knowing that you're not alone in the world. 

Nanette McGuinness  04:06

Yeah. 

Rajna Swaminathan  04:07

Someone going through this and yeah, having someone to just sort of be a mirror and reflection back as you kind of find your own path with things.

Nanette McGuinness  04:21

Yeah, did they travel with you in December to Chennai?

Rajna Swaminathan  04:26

Sometimes. Yeah, they were maybe, maybe less so involved with that, but they did, yeah, they did make quite a few visits themselves to perform. I think they knew early on that wasn't the path they wanted to go down. And they were, they're, like, a, you know, multifaceted artist, and studied theater in college, and they're really, you know, they do visual art, and so they're very sort of multifaceted in that way. So I. I think they, they knew. They were like, "Okay, that's not where I'm headed." Gonna do these other things, maybe earlier than I did [laughs] so, but yeah, they did actually go into the sort of writing for western classical musicians field before I did, and sort of helped me find my place there and introduce me to Gabriela. So that was really, that was really great.

Nanette McGuinness  05:25

You know, that does sound great. I have a... one younger sister...

Rajna Swaminathan  05:29

mmhmm

Nanette McGuinness  05:30

...who did theater. I was the music. She was the theater. And, you know, our paths diverged fairly greatly, and then I ended up doing opera, which was...interesting. And she's, she does fabulous work in law, which is where she ended up landing. But it's, it's very interesting when you have a younger sister who's determined and kind of knows what they're up to, and even if, even if they're not sure, having them right behind you is an it's an interesting experience, and it's good to come together as you're older and kind of feel less competitive, I guess, and more embracing, is what I... what I found.

Rajna Swaminathan  06:12

Absolutely, yeah, yeah. So it's, it's been really nice as we come into this phase of our lives, in our 30s.

Nanette McGuinness  06:22

Come into your own as adults. [laughs]

Rajna Swaminathan  06:24

Yeah, really. And we've, we both ended up moving out to California around the same time. They're, they live in Oakland and so yeah, it's, it's nice to have family on the West Coast. [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  06:37

Right [laughs]

Rajna Swaminathan  06:39

We've been East Coasters our whole lives. 

Nanette McGuinness  06:42

So now you're both out here. That's cool. 

Rajna Swaminathan  06:44

...moved out here. Now my dad is out here. So it's, it's...

Nanette McGuinness  06:47

Oh wow.

Rajna Swaminathan  06:48

Whole family's out here now, so...  [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  06:50

The Western migration, yeah, we've sort of done the same thing too. We were east and then south, and slowly...

Rajna Swaminathan  06:56

[laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  06:57

...in waves came out, and much of us are out here now.

Nanette McGuinness  07:01

[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure, and a special thank you to our guest, Rajna Swaminathan, for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media, and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT, our concert season online and in the Bay Area, or to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit us at www.e4tt.org. This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors like you. For Good Measure is produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble for These Times and design by Brennan Stokes, with special thanks to co-producer and audio engineer Stephanie M. Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts and tune in next week, "for good measure." [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]