When They Were Young: Pianist and Composer Charu Suri

by Eileen Sherman

Charu Suri at the piano

Charu, I know you were born in Madurai, India, but have lived on four continents. How did the music of each continent impact your childhood love for music?

I was born in Madurai, a city in South India renowned for its rich culture and literary heritage. Then, when I was five years old, we moved to Africa because my dad got a job as CEO of a Nigerian record label. This was an excellent playground for me to learn and explore a wide range of music and genres. (The house we lived in Nigeria had a piano, and that started it all!) In the evenings, my dad would bring home so many vinyl records, and we would spend days listening to a wide range of music. It was wonderful!

So the music of Africa has had a profound influence on me, of course. When I returned from Africa to Chennai, India (when I was nine), my parents found the best piano teacher “in town,” and she was highly instrumental in shaping my skill and virtuosity, and pushed me to perform on all stages and enter competitions.

At the same time, when I returned to India at the age of nine, I began learning Indian classical vocal music, as well as Western classical music. As a result, ragas have been with me since childhood and, of course, profoundly impacted my subsequent career and music.

Charu with her piano teacher in Nigeria

I know you began studying piano at a young age, and your teachers quickly recognized that you were a piano prodigy. Can you remember what made the piano feel so comfortable and familiar to you? How do you think your early home life influenced the artist you became?

Yes, I began studying the piano when I was five years old in Africa. My mom said when I saw the piano, I took to it like a fish took to water. She was adamant that I study piano. I loved it!

Naturally, my dad, as the CEO of a record label, was a passionate music lover. My grandmother was an incredible singer, with a voice like a nightingale, and sang classical Indian music. And so, I grew up in a household that truly loved music, “day in and day out.” While Western classical music wasn’t quite the norm in my home (that was all me), my parents encouraged me to appreciate all genres of music. My father took me to many European operas and concerts when I was still a little girl, so that I could expand my horizons.

Charu has won countless trophies and awards since childhood

I am assuming that, like most, your music education began with classical music.

Yes, but also with African music (just in the periphery, since I grew up in Nigeria in my formative musical years), and Indian raga music (when I returned to India). But mostly classical, yes.

I am curious about which of those classical composers resonates most with your personality.

Debussy! When I heard Debussy, my mom said I just naturally gravitated toward his style. And I think, honestly, Debussy is the ultimate jazz/classical composer. When I was very young, he fit my personality so well that my piano teacher in India, Mrs. Gita Menon (who was a brilliant teacher in every way---she had three grand pianos in her house and pretty much all the piano literature ever published), warned me not to fall too much in love with Debussy and reminded me that there were other composers out there.

Charu performing at a young age

However, I also know that you have a great passion for modern-day jazz, and that your signature style today is fusing American jazz with Ragas. So….here’s the question. Was it as a teenager or even earlier that you discovered jazz piano? And as a teen, did you have any jazz heroes, and why those specific musicians?

Here’s the thing, and most people do not believe this. Jazz piano is just five years old for me; my playing of jazz started a few years ago after I visited New Orleans to attend a concert given by Preservation Hall. I just loved everything about what they were doing, and I knew this was the genre I was meant to do. Then I started using Indian ragas in my work, and there you have it- raga jazz was born.

Yet, even as a young musician, I listened to so much jazz! Bill Evans was a big hero of mine, and so was David Brubeck. I loved their virtuosity.

Music has always consumed your soul. Still, we all know that a serious study of any art form demands strict, daily discipline. As a child, how did your parents help you balance the demands of rigorous practice and other childhood endeavors?

Charu Suri performing

I was the kid who practiced 5-6 hours a day, even when I came back from school and did my homework. It was just what I did, daily, and sometimes, I would practice until 1 in the morning, without any coercion. I was a pianist —and a bit of a freak about it.

When you perform, you have a great deal of theatricality! Has that flair evolved over the years, or were you that little girl in the living room always playing for company and loving it? If so, can you describe any of those “Living Room Concerts?”

I guess I’ve always lost myself in the music. That’s always been the case, so it comes across as “theatricality!” I performed numerous Living Room Concerts when I was growing up, and they’ve always resonated with me as a beautiful way to connect with audiences, both in India and Nigeria.

In Chennai, where I attended middle and high school, I would often give concerts at foreign embassies, ranging from the Indian Embassy to the American Embassy. These salon-like concerts were intimate and felt like living room concerts. And what excellent receptions afterwards! I feel fortunate to have such wonderful childhood memories!