Sonali Tambe Shares Her Classical Music Journey and the Rising Indian Classical Music Scene in Boston
“I am fortunate to have parents who encouraged my interest in music. I hope to reach a wider section of society – musicians, music aficionados, casual listeners and anyone who is interested in learning more. ” Today’s woman dreamer, Sonali Tambe is a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) specialist for the local government and also a dedicated classical musician, Sonali reflects on her the beginning of her musical journey, starting in the fifth grade, the challenges she faced in continuing her music education when she moved to the U.S, the key musical influencers in her life, the rising classical music scene in Greater Boston, and how she balances it all. We hope you enjoy her inspiring story!
1. Tell us your story. You started learning music when you were in the fifth grade, and then pursued advanced music in college. Tell is more about your journey as a musician, and what inspired your interest in music?
In elementary school, I sang casually for school events. Somehow, I was made to believe that I could sing. So my parents enrolled me in a neighborhood music school when I was in 5th grade. 10-12 music students, mostly my age would take music lessons together. Like most music schools of this nature, the material was given to us in written format and we were to just memorize it and present it. It was a good introduction to the basics of music. Around 9th or 10th grade, I kind of outgrew this setting. I was losing interest in learning. My parents gently encouraged me to continue. In 11th grade, I started learning from my first guru Madhukaka Joshi. This is where I started learning music more seriously. I learned improvisation, the structure of khayal presentation, the rhythmic accompaniment, and such. I learned from Madhukaka for about 6 years and then in 1990, I moved to the US. Studies, work, family, and other obligations kept me away from music for many years. I resumed learning from my Guru Dr. Vikas Kashalkar in 2011. Under his patient guidance, I learned the nuances of khayal presentation, various elements of khyal gayaki, their appropriate use, their propriety in each raag, proper use of voice, how to do riyaz and so on. He helped me evolve as a musician and encouraged music not just as a vocalist but also as a critic and as an academician. He is a big proponent of formal education for all musicians. He encouraged me to get an advanced degree in music. So I enrolled in the master's program in vocal music at Bharati Vidyapeeth, Pune. I learned a lot in this course and it was the most rewarding experience. I continue to learn from Dr. Kashalkar and am trying to take my presentations to the next level.
I am fortunate to have parents who encouraged my interest in music. My father is a music aficionado so music was always part of our household. He had a nice collection of records and I used to repeatedly listen to some records. I must have played Prabha Atre’s record of Maru Bihag, Kalavati and Thumari hundreds of times. Encouragement from family and friends kept my motivation up. Moments of self-doubt and feelings of stagnation come up from time to time. This is when a good Guru helps you find a way. And my Guruji has been my guiding light, my source of inspiration and motivation for the last 12 years.
2. Was it challenging to pursue your classical music interests when you moved to the U.S? Tell us more about these challenges?
Pursuing classical music after moving to the US was challenging for sure. There were financial constraints, work responsibilities, then family responsibilities. My husband has a very demanding career that requires him to travel extensively. When kids came along, everything about them was more important than my music. We lived in Los Angeles where physical distances and traffic eat up a lot of time. So traveling anywhere farther from home for music lessons was not possible. I did try learning from a music school near by but somehow things did not work out. Slowly technologies such as Skype started emerging. Yet, most music teachers were not willing to use them. So learning from any teacher in India seemed impossible. My Guruji is probably the first one to embrace technology. Even before Skype, he used telephones for long-distance teaching. So for me, the possibility of learning from him became a reality in 2011. Limited internet speed, nascent video conferencing technology and such made these lessons difficult. We have come a long way since then. Live tabla accompaniment in the US has been a big challenge. Electronic tabla machines and apps have limited utility. Fortunately, being in the Greater Boston area has made these challenges easier now.
3. Professionally, you are a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) specialist for the local government and have a background in computer science. How do you balance your career with your music pursuits, and what is your advice to women trying to do the same?
Managing work, family life, and pursuing your passion is certainly a tightrope balance. I started working as a software engineer after finishing my education. After the kids came along, I started working as a consultant for the local government. I was able to determine my work hours so I could spend more time with my small kids at home. Once the kids were a bit older, I started working full-time again for a small beach city in the Los Angeles area. My job kept me away from home for 12 hours a day. Managing my work, kids’ schedules, household responsibilities, and accommodating the demands of my husband’s career was a lot. I had also started a non-profit organization for local highschool. So I had to put my music pursuit on a back burner for almost two decades. Every family has to go through such compromises. I knew I could always go back to music. During this time, I listened to a lot of good music though. Even my kids would ask to listen to classical music when they were little.
Young families are always struggling with the pressures of work, the well-being of kids, the stress of saving money for retirement, kids’ college expenses, and so much more. All families go through this stress for 15-20 years until kids become self-sufficient and leave home. Three things worked for me - prioritizing, outsourcing, and my support system. I honestly think that the message ‘you can do it all’ is causing a lot of unnecessary stress in our lives. It is best to prioritize. That way you can do everything you want, just not at the same time. Focus on the most important things in your life first. As we progress through various stages of life, priorities change. If we know why we are making the choices that we do, there is no conflict in mind. Now that I am at a stage where most of my responsibilities are over, I can focus on music more. Outsourcing some of your responsibilities helps take the edge off. Get help to clean the house, get prepared meals a few times a week, or get someone to help drive the kids. Getting hired help alleviated a lot of stress in my life. Many people have family nearby that can help. Unfortunately, I did not have that luxury. I did have a very good network of friends who were my eyes and ears when I couldn’t be with my kids. I am very thankful for that. It is a very good idea to invest time in getting to know other parents, and neighbors. They become your village and kids get a sense of community that they can draw from. Prioritizing, outsourcing and my community really helped me manage my life and slowly transition to music and more non-profit work again.
4. Who are some musicians you admire?
When I was 15 -16 years old, Veena Sahastrabuddhe had emerged at the forefront of the classical music scene. I was absolutely mesmerized. I was fortunate to have attended many of her concerts in person in Pune. She would take a seat on the stage and scan the entire audience with such confidence. I remember getting goosebumps when she opened the concerts with her first introductory notes. Prabha Atre, Malini Rajurkar, Kishori Amonkar and of course Bhimsen Joshi are also my all-time favorites although I got little chance to listen to them at live events.
Manjiri Asnare, Vyankatesh Kumar, Shaswati Mandal are some of the artists today that I like.
My Guruji, Dr. Vikas Kashalkar is my ultimate favorite though. He has a quality of serenity and honesty to his music that I think is rare.
5. As the platform for women dreamers, what is your next big dream?
My Guruji’s guidance and my master's degree education in music have truly broadened my horizons. Every musician’s dream is to become a performing artist. However, there is a lot more to music than just performing. Our music is based on a solid structural foundation. It is interesting to understand this theoretical base of raga music. Besides the theoretical aspects of music, the history of music, the philosophy, psychology and sociology of music are really fascinating topics. I think people will find these topics interesting as well. It is critical to help people appreciate music. To promote Indian classical music, we need to nurture not just new musicians but also nurture good listeners. A good musician is only as good as the audience that appreciates him/her. I see very little effort done to educate the audience. I hope to reach a wider section of society – musicians, music aficionados, casual listeners and anyone who is interested in learning more. This vision is also shared by some organizations in the Greater Boston area such as Shadaj. We are hoping to start music appreciation sessions to increase interest and awareness of Indian classical music.
A good friend of mine and my gurubhagini Anjali Malkar will soon be publishing a book on the history of Indian classical music. This scholarly work is in Marathi. I thought the information in this book needs to reach a wider audience. So, I am currently working on the translation of this book into English. It is a big 900-page book so the work is going to take some time. But it will be a valuable resource for musicians and music students all over the world.