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Kanniks Kannikeswaran

Kanniks Kannikeswaran, popularly known as Kanniks, is an Indo-American musician, composer, writer and music educator based out of Cincinnati, OH.[1]. Often described as ‘The Magic Musician From Madras’[2][3], Kanniks has numerous productions, choral performances, lectures, workshops and articles to his name. He is a pioneer of the Indian American choral movement[4][5]. He has founded community choirs in 8 cities in North America including Cincinnati OH, Bethlehem PA, Houston TX, Tampa FL, Ft. Lauderdale FL, Minneapolis/St Paul MN, Toronto ON, Washington DC. He is currently expanding his work to Europe (The Hague - Netherlands) [6] . He has won global acclaim for his research on Muthuswamy Dikshithar's music and compositions, especially around the Nottuswara Sahityas. [7]

Career

Kanniks has trained in the classical Carnatic and Hindustani music traditions of India. He is hailed as the pioneer of the Indian American choral movement[4]. He founded the Greater Cincinnati Indian Community Choir in late 1993 and produced his first musical production "Basant - A Musical Celebration of Spring" that same year[2].His choral productions mingle Indian voices, chants with Western choruses and choral arrangements to produce a "new sound" in choral music [4]. Kanniks has founded and directed choirs in 8 cities in the United States and is expanding this work to Europe. Aside from choral music, Kanniks has established a unique style for himself that mingles elements from the Hindustani and Carnatic streams of Indian music and also from musical traditions throughout the world. His specialty is the music and compositions of Muthuswamy Dikshithar, one of the Carnatic trinity of composers from the 17th century. He has written numerous articles on music and given a number of lecture demonstrations in various forums in the United States, India and worldwide. He has regularly presented lecture demonstrations at the prestigious Music Academy in Chennai, Tamilnadu. [8] [9]His articles on music have appeared in prestigious online forums and he has contributed to music columns in various newspapers.[10]

Choral Music

Kanniks is noted as the pioneer of the Indian American Choral movement. Kanniks has experimented and innovated in the choral music genre through new choral arrangements featuring Indian voices in combination with western choruses and western orchestras. He founded the first Indian choir in the United States in Cincinnati in 2004. The Greater Cincinnati Indian Community Choir, directed by Kanniks Kannikeswaran,won two silver medals in the prestigious Champions Category in the World Choir Games 2012, held in Cincinnati Ohio[11].The Shanti oratorio, his signature Choral production, has been performed to great acclaim in Cincinnati, Houston, Atlanta and other cities in the United States[12][13]. Recently, he produced "Sangam to Silicon Era", a choral presentation of the work of various Tamil poets through various ages, in Chicago at the 40th annual convention of the Tamilnadu Foundation [14][15].

Collaborations

Kanniks has collaborated with leading artistes from around the world. His work "The Snake Concerto" was performed by the prestigious Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, conducted by John Morris Russell. His score for Jeevan Taal based on several Indian folk music traditions was choreographed by Mrinalini Sarabhai, one of the foremost exponents of classical and modern Indian dance, and received wide acclaim from the Indian press. Kanniks has worked with Lakshmi Shankar, one of the foremost classical musicians of India. His collaboration with the Gundecha brothers resulted in a ‘Guruguha Dhruvapada’ - a dhrupad concert featuring kritis of Dikshitar rendered in the classical Hindustani style[16] . He has worked with celebrated conductor Catherine Roma who has directed several of his productions including Shanti. He has also worked with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and the Cincinnati symphony orchestra . He recently collaborated with the Korzo theater [17] in the Netherlands, the United Nations Association International Choir in Houston and with the National University of Singapore Indian Instrumental Ensemble. Kanniks has been receiving support for his creative work in the form of grants from the City of Cincinnati, the Ohio Arts Council and the Fine Arts Fund since 1996.

Teaching

Kanniks has been teaching graduate students in his two quarter sequence of classes on Indian Classical Music - Graduate Course Sequence in Indian Music Theory and History - at the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, since 1994 [18] . Kanniks also conducts classes outside the University in Indian classical music for children and adults of all age groups. He is the founder of the American School of Indian Art (ASIA) [19]. He is also a visiting artist at the University of South Florida.

Awards and Recognition

  • Ohio Heritage Fellowship - Ohio Arts Council - 2011[20]
  • McKnight Visiting Composer Residencies - American Composers Forum - 2011[21]
  • Inaugural Award for the Advancement of Dharmic Arts and Humanities - Hindu American Foundation - 2013[22]
  • Best Lecture Demonstration/Paper at 81st Annual Conference of the Music Academy - Madras - 2007.

Research

The Indo Colonial Music of Dikshitar: Kannikeswaran’s research on the Indo Colonial Music of Dikshitar has created a renaissance of the nottusvara sahityas[10] . Kanniks presented an award winning lecture demonstration on this topic at the Music Academy - Madras in 2007 and in 2008 released the first ever recording of the entire genre of nottusvara sahityas in the voice of his daughter Vidita Kanniks with western (largely Celtic) orchestration. This recording ‘Vismaya - An Indo Celtic Musical Journey’ was released both in India and in the United States [23]. He has presented thematic programs on this topic in the presence of India’s former president Dr. Abdul Kalam, India’s former ambassador to the US Meera Shankar and more recently at the Media Rise Festival in Washington DC. He has extensively presented talks, lecture/demonstrations and articles on this topic in various places in North America (including venues such as Berklee College of Music, The University of Cincinnati, The University of Texas at A&M and more), Singapore (National University of Singapore), Trinidad and India (Bangalore International Center, IIT Madras and more) and is a well-known expert in this area[24]

Dikshitar and dhrupad: Kannikeswaran has researched into the various aspects of Dikshitar’s music - particularly the similarity between Dikshitar’s compositions and Dhrupad . He collaborated with the Gundecha brothers to present "Meditative Moments: Guruguha-Dhruvapada", a unique concert that highlighted Dikshitar's compositions that resemble Dhrupad music, in Houston in 2012.[25][16]. He has numerous articles and lecture demonstrations to his name on this topic [24]

References

  1. ^ Kanniks' Personal Website
  2. ^ a b Richardson, Rachel. "The Magical Musician From Madras". Mason Our Town (October-November 2012): 12, 13, 14. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  3. ^ Kannikeswaran, Kanniks. "About Kanniks". http://www.kanniks.com. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  4. ^ a b c Burnett, John. "Across America, Voices Rise To Reinvent India". http://www.npr.org. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  5. ^ Blum, Barbara. "UC Indian American choral composer in national spotlight". UC Magazine. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  6. ^ "Kanniks Kannikeswaran Productions". http://www.korzo.nl. Retrieved 15 November 2014. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  7. ^ "Acclaimed filmmaker Rajiv Menon unveils "Vismaya-Nottuswara Sahityas of Dikshitar"". Financial Chronicle. PR Hub. December 24, 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  8. ^ "Reports on Lec-Dems". Kutcheri Buzz.
  9. ^ "The influence of the dhrupad on Muttuswami Dikshitar kritis". https://sriramv.wordpress.com. Retrieved 19 January 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  10. ^ a b Kannikeswaran, Kanniks (March 14, 2013). "Legacy From Dikshitar". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  11. ^ Pundir, Pallavi (August 19, 2012). "Raga Choral". The Indian Express. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  12. ^ "Shanti Choir". Shanti A Journey Of Peace.
  13. ^ Morse, Diana. "In 'Shanti,' East meets West - and the result is harmony". The Morning Call. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  14. ^ "The 40th Annual TNF Convention". http://tnfusa.org/. Retrieved 19 January 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  15. ^ Viswanath, Narayana (Jun 16, 2014). "The Cincinnati En-choir-er". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  16. ^ a b Rao, Shuchita. "Music: Fusing Two Idioms". Khabar (July 2012). {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  17. ^ "Sharad, Celebrating Autumn". Topic Times. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  18. ^ "Faculty of College Conservatory of Music". http://ccm.uc.edu/music/cmt/events/about_ethno/faculty/Kannikeswaran.html. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  19. ^ "American School of Indian Art". www.kanniks.com. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  20. ^ "2011 Ohio Heritage Fellowship Recipients". Ohio Arts Council.
  21. ^ "McKnight Visiting Composer Residencies". American Composers Forum. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  22. ^ "DC Days Awards: Hall of Fame". Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  23. ^ "Vismaya". Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  24. ^ a b Vishwanath, Narayana (Aug 04, 2014). "Truly, an engaging speech". New Indian Express. Retrieved 22 January 2015. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ Swamy, Prakash (June 8, 2012). "Exploring the Dhrupad-Dikshitar connection". Retrieved 19 January 2015.

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