L Subramaniam on collaborating with Stevie Wonder, and being the only non-american artiste at the United Nations anniversary in New York

‘Everyone is aware of Bollywood’

L Subramaniam on collaborating with Stevie Wonder, and being the only non-american artiste at the United Nations anniversary in New York

Stevie Wonder is an extremely creative person.
—L Subramaniam, violinist and composer

Composer-violinist L Subramaniam is renowned for blending Carnatic and western classical music with tremendous proficiency. The musician who has, in the past, composed for films such as Salaam Bombay (1988) and Mississippi Masala (1991), and performed in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Little Buddha (1993) and Merchant Ivory Productions’s Cotton Mary (1999), has now collaborated with singersongwriter Stevie Wonder on the tracks ‘My cherie amour’ and ‘Higher ground’ at the 67th anniversary of the United Nations in New York. How did the collaboration with Stevie Wonder come about? I performed as part of Stevie’s Message of Peace concert at the UN General Assembly, New York, on UN Day, October 24. The show was produced by Paxton Baker, whom I’ve worked with in the past. It was Paxton who called me to be part of the show.
Stevie Wonder and L Subramaniam in concert

What was it like? Stevie Wonder is a legend. I’ve been familiar with his work for decades, and it was wonderful to be invited to work with him. He is a creative person. On the stage, there was wonderful energy. We had a couple of practice sessions with the entire band before the performance. It was friendly and a lot of fun. Is he familiar with Indian or Bollywood music? I think everyone in the universe is aware of Indian music and Bollywood! He may come to India in the future to perform. Are you likely to collaborate again with Stevie Wonder or other international musicians? I’m always open to interesting collaborations. There are a few projects in the offing, but I don’t want to talk about them until they are ready. Did you meet other international artistes at the UN event? There were a number of great artistes, like Sting and Wyclef Jean. These are names I’ve heard from my children. I was pleasantly surprised to know that they are familiar with my work. You have performed at the UN in the past. This was the third time I was invited to perform at the UN. The first was in 1987, when I was asked to play with Yehudi Menuhin (the late American violinist) to celebrate the 40th year of Indian Independence. The second time was in March, 2011, when my son Ambi and I were invited to perform a Carnatic concert.