Attracting younger audiences to classical music concerts is a challenge, says A.R. Rahman

Oscar-winning music director A.R. Rahman on Monday (December 15, 2025) said one of the challenges today was how to bring in younger audiences to concert halls to enjoy classical music.

Mr. Rahman, who inaugurated the 99th annual music conference and concerts of the Music Academy in Chennai, said he had expected to see many young people in the audience, but found most were of his own age group.

“How do we get them in? This has been my task for the last 10 years. I have been working on script ideas, how to make a movie, and all kinds of crazy ideas I have not told anyone about,” said Mr. Rahman, who presented the M.S. Subbulakshmi Award and the cash prize instituted by The Hindu to violinist R.K. Shriramkumar, the Sangita Kalanidhi designate for 2025.

Mr. Rahman said music had to travel around the world and be experienced in a way that enthralled and immersed audiences. “It is not just the performer or the mastery of singing, but also the hall and the way spaces are designed so that people can enjoy music in a much better way,” he said.

Pointing out people today were constantly “seduced by social media”, artificial intelligence, and many other unbelievable influences — both good and bad — the music director said all of this could happen on a screen.

‘Human experience’

“But can you sing with the tambura in tune and hold an audience for three hours? That is the question. At the same time, how can we expand the experience? The human experience is irreplaceable. Performing arts have a major role to play and must be reinvented again and again to bring in audiences, generate an economy, and instil pride in our traditions,” he said.

Mr. Rahman added that while the creation of music was one aspect, marketing it in a way that allowed the world to enjoy it was equally important.

“My musical experience is that I learnt from everyone. I do not draw borders between traditions. I appreciate and respect tradition. Everything comes from bhakti, from devotion — whether it is Sufi music, Carnatic music, Hindustani music, or gospel music. Everything comes from surrendering to tradition,” he said.

Describing himself as an “outlaw” as a musician, Mr. Rahman said, “I learnt music, but moved away from tradition to rediscover it, so that I gained the freedom to innovate and collaborate, and the freedom not to feel guilty about breaking rules. I have discovered more beauty as I grow older, and now we face a serious challenge.”

Mr. Shriramkumar recalled his first concert at the Music Academy, for which he had borrowed both his instrument and his attire. “From then on, my performances at the Academy have been an unbroken sequence,” he said.

He noted Carnatic music as a genre was characterised by its unique soundscape, gamaka structures, compositional masterpieces, and rhythmic intricacies. “It is of paramount importance that this beautiful soundscape is never sacrificed in performance,” he said.

‘Man of humility’

N. Murali, president of the Music Academy, said Mr. Rahman had incorporated multiple classical elements from both the Carnatic and Hindustani streams.

Quoting Australian director Baz Luhrmann — “the more of AR’s music I encountered, the more I was amazed at the sheer diversity of styles, from swinging brass bands to triumphant anthems, from joyous pop to West End musical” — Mr. Murali said Mr. Rahman “remains a man of humility and an ambassador of our wonderful city”.

Mr. Murali added a new, world-class, top-of-the-line audio and acoustics system from the leading international brand L-Acoustics of France had been commissioned at the Academy in June 2025.

Sangita Kalanidhis T.M. Krishna and Bombay Jayashree were present. R. Srinivasan, vice-president of the Academy, proposed a vote of thanks.