Building Community Through Music

Dr. Kanniks Kannikeswaran holds a Ph.D in Indian music and has been teaching Indian Music Theory and History as adjunct faculty at the University of Cincinnati since 1994. He has made his research presentations on Muthuswami Dikshitar and Swati Tirunal at the Music Academy, Chennai. He composed the music score for Mahotsav, choreographed by Mrinalini Sarabhai and her daughter Mallika. At the finale of INK Talks Mumbai, he presented a spectacular performance with a newly assembled choir comprising children from underprivileged backgrounds and with the group Dharavi Rocks. Kannikeswaran is known most for his pioneering work in composing and producing large-scale symphonic work based on ragas and for his efforts in building communities around music. From his base in Cincinnati, he has taken his work around the US, has built coral communities in over 15 cities and worked with more than 2500 performers. He brings boundless enthusiasm and energy to his productions.

- Shanthi Murali

Shanti is an oratorio 85 minutes long, and featuring sacred text in Sanskrit (with some verses in Tamil, English and Pali), that I wrote for a large mixed chorus, a string orchestra. I wrote it in 2004. Shanti powerfully presents the 5000-year-old cultural history of India on a very large canvas and is centered on the message of universal peace and interconnectedness. It uses text from the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, as well as some lines from the Tevaram and the Nalayira Divya Prabandham.

The score traverses several ragas such as Yaman, Sree, Durga, Vagadeeswari, Gambheera Nata, Bhoopali, Bhatiyar and more. About 90 Indian voices, trained and untrained, sing the melody while the Western choruses add layers of choral polyphony. An orchestra of strings and winds adds more layers. Yet another layer of multi-genre dance (Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kathak, folk, yoga movement) and multimedia visuals support the score, while a powerful narrative ties the entire score together.

Where has Shanti been performed and what is unique about the performances?

Shanti premiered in Cincinnati OH in 2004, was performed again in 2006 and 2014, each time with a different cast. It has been performed in several cities including Houston, Atlanta and most recently in the Bay Area. Each staging features a cast of about 250 performers. The tenth anniversary performance in Cincinnati drew an audience of 2000. The last two performances in the Bay Area had similar audiences, usually a mix of Indian and non-Indian connoisseurs of music and dance.

Shanti is always performed by a local cast and the cast of singers and dancers is different each time. I make several trips to the area to work with the cast, collaborate remotely and pull the production together.

How did your foray into choral music start?