Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Grace Srinivasan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Grace thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I am so lucky that I can say that most of my professional life is very meaningful. I get to make music in churches, synagogues, theaters, and so many spaces that allow music to uplift and comfort as well as entertain. But one thing that I am particularly proud of is the work that the ensemble I co-run with my friend Paula Maust, Musica Spira, has done since we began it back in 2016. We had lofty goals of starting a large early music ensemble that would put on operas and other large scale works, but as we began to program concerts with small groups of musicians to get ourselves up and running, we kept finding ourselves drawn to the music of Barbara Strozzi and other women who were composing in the 17th and 18th centuries. As we fell in love with their music our priorities shifted, and we made it our mission as a group to discover the stories of women who were composing, performing, and patronizing music in the early modern period. In the past eight years we have performed at some incredible venues, worked with some wonderful colleagues, and are even recording our first album next year.
Grace, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Hi! My name is Grace Srinivasan, and I’m a professional singer in the Washington DC area. I have always been a singer. Everyone who knew me as a young child would tell you I was probably too shy to talk to them but I would happily sing all of The Sound of Music, complete with all the choreography. I sang in choirs and played the cello throughout my childhood, and eventually found myself getting two degrees in classical voice. These days when I’m not hanging out with my husband (also a musician!) and toddler I sing professionally as a cantor and chorister for St. Stephen Martyr Church, Washington National Cathedral, The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and Temple Sinai, and work as a freelance soprano with various groups around the Baltimore/DC area. I work as music director at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, and run an early music ensemble called Musica Spira.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
My favorite part of being a musician is the role I get to play in someone’s spiritual and emotional life. I sing in a lot of religious spaces, and I get a lot of joy from contributing to the spiritual journey of Holy Week, or the High Holidays, or even a wedding or funeral. Music, especially choral music, is such a pure expression of emotion and community, and I’ve seen how much it helps people in so many ways. I turn to music when I need, comfort, release, joy, or a good cry, and being able to give that to others is something I never take for granted.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
Something that can seem foreign to my non-musician friends and family, in addition to the usual frustration that I mostly work nights and weekends and am never around to hang out, is the lack of basic job security. My husband is also a musician (he plays organ, harpsichord, and piano) and although we are lucky to have some great jobs, all of them are part time with no real upward mobility or benefits. We pay self-employment taxes and get our healthcare from the state marketplace. It’s challenging to not know what our professional lives could look like in five or ten years. We’re lucky to have lots of opportunities where we live and have supportive families, but not everyone does.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gracesrinivasan.com
- Other: Help Musica Spira bring the music of two extraordinary Italian women to life! We are fundraising for our debut album: https://www.gofundme.com/f/musica-spiras-debut-album?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer