Aishu Venkataraman, 14, a sophomore at Poly High School, has been playing violin since she was 18 months old. She specializes in jazz and Indian music. To maintain her skill, Aishu has a strict regimen of waking up each morning at 4:45 a.m., then practicing from 5 to just before 7 a.m. (Diandra Jay / Press-Telegram)
LONG BEACH - It's 6 a.m. on a school day, and Long Beach Poly High school student Aishu Venkataraman is already fully dressed, sitting down on a carpet at home, practicing the violin.
Her fingers dart along the strings, moving rapidly up and down musical scales, a signature maneuver in south Indian music.
The 14-year-old actually was taking it easy that day. Usually she's up at 4:45 a.m. and downstairs 15 minutes later to begin practicing. Shortly before 7 a.m., she quickly eats some cereal and rushes off to catch the school bus.
Aishu, who specializes in Indian and jazz music, juggles her violin practices and solo concerts while playing for the Poly jazz band and studying in the honors program at the school.
She has performed concerts in India, Finland, Boston, San Diego, San Francisco and at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Another achievement that sets her apart from other young violinists: She has been accepted to Boston's Berklee College of Music, where she is studying during summers to earn enough credits to get a bachelor's degree at the same time she receives her high school diploma.
Combining studying for school with hours of practicing each day leaves little time during the week for what most people consider relaxing - talking on the phone, watching television, reading.
But for Aishu, the amount of time she devotes to the violin isn't seen as a chore.
"It's not somethingthat I would give up," she said. "It's something that I'm happy doing."
An early start
Aishu began playing violin when she was just 18 months old. She used a small, custom-crafted violin about 15 inches long that was purchased for about $7,000 by her father, V.R. Venkataraman, a jazz drummer who works as a mathematics testing consultant for the Long Beach school district.
Beginning at age 4, thanks to her father's personal connection, she was periodically tutored during summers by renowned Indian violinist T.N. Krishnan, who visited California specifically to train the child prodigy in Indian music.
In middle school, Aishu, noticing that a lot of her friends were in the jazz band, told her father that she wanted to start playing jazz as well.
Venkataraman was a little wary about the prospects of having a violin in a jazz band - as it's not a typical jazz instrument.
But Aishu persisted, beginning her quest to fuse the improvisational techniques of south Indian music with that of jazz.
"I'm able to just use one to help me with the other, and that's why I really stand out from the crowd," she said.
Now, she is the only jazz violinist in the Poly music program.
Jazz "is all about expressing your personality," she said.
'Life-changing' experience
The officials at the Berklee College of Music - an institute known for jazz education - were impressed enough by Aishu's audition to admit her at the age of 13.
Her father said that Aishu interested the officials by showing dexterity at playing both Indian music and jazz. She was admitted to the four-year college on a full scholarship.
Aishu spent last summer living in a Boston apartment paid for by Berklee. Her mother lived with her for part of the summer, her father for the other portion.
That summer, she earned 32 credits, or the equivalent what a student would normally earn over the course of an academic year.
Although she spends a significant amount of time in school, her stint in Boston is not all work.
"It's an environment where you do learn a lot, but it's not a classical environment where you have to practice the whole day and you don't have time to eat or sleep," she said.
Aishu said that attending Berklee has been a life-changing experience.
"I would not trade those summer experiences for the world," she said.
Her hope is that she can popularize the use of violin in jazz.
"It's been done, but it hasn't taken off," she said. "And that's the goal: To have it take off."
Aishu is not the only musician in the family. Her sister Aparna is following in her father's footsteps by learning the drums.
During mornings, Aishu's father sits alongside her when she is practicing, helping her to keep time and singing along to the music.
Although outsiders might think that her father is pushing Aishu's interest in the violin, the teenager said that's a false assumption.
"People who know me know that this is something I want to do," she said.
People who are familiar with the family "know that there is absolutely no pressure here," Venkataraman said. "What it's called is effective time management."
Aishu will need to use even more time management skills after she graduates from high school and Berklee.
She plans to continue practicing and developing her violin skills while also attending medical school, itself known for being an incredibly time-consuming enterprise.
She said she expects to handle both of those tasks as well as she is handling her various commitments now.
"I feel if I'm able to do this now, then if I'm motivated ... I should be able to do this the rest of my life."
kevin.butler@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1308
http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_7446797
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