Narasimhan Ravikiran (born 12 February 1967) is an Indian slide instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, and orator, who created the concept of melharmony. He is the son of gottuvadhyam player Chitravina Narasimhan[1] and the grandson of Narayan Iyengar, who was also a Carnatic musician.
N. Ravikiran
Background information
Born
(1967-02-12) 12 February 1967 (age 57) Mysore, India
Ravikiran was born in Mysore, Karnataka. He made his first appearance at the age of two, in April and again in August 1969, in Bangalore,[2] and was interviewed by Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Pandit Ravi Shankar, M S Subbulakshmi and Flute T R Mahalingam.[3] He also performed at the XLIII Madras Music Conference held at The Madras Music Academy in December 1969,[4] and was awarded a scholarship from the academy.[5] He was able to identify about 325 ragas (melodic scales) and 175 talas (rhythmic cycles) of Carnatic music.[6] Ravi Shankar is said to have declared "If you don't believe in God, look at Ravikiran".[7] Soon after, he was presented at leading institutions such as Shanmukhananda Fine Arts, Bombay and Tyagaraja Sabha, Coimbatore.[8]
Following training under his father, Chitravina Narasimhan, Ravikiran debuted as a vocalist in 1972, when he was five years old, in Coimbatore.[citation needed] He performed at concerts in Madras, Mysore and Bangalore until he was 10. His recitals – often over two and a half hours – drew large audiences and won critical acclaim in the Indian media.
Careeredit
Ravikiran also established himself as a string instrumentalist at an early age.[9][10][11] In July 1985, he set a record with a 24-hour non-stop solo concert in Chennai.[12] He won an exemption to perform professional concerts for Indian Radio and Television (Doordarshan) at age 12 and was invited to represent his country in Festivals of India in France (1985),[13] Switzerland (1987), Germany (1992), Brazil (2012) and countries like Poland, Czech Republic, Austria and Yugoslavia (1997). He has performed extensively in major events and venues across the world including the Chicago World Music Festival,[14] Theatre de la Ville Paris,[15] Europalia Festival, Belgium,[16] Millennium Festival (UK), Rudolstadt Festival, Germany, Masters of Indian Music, Budapest,[17] Sadlers Wells & Tate Modern (UK), Esplanade Festival (Singapore), Oji Hall (Tokyo), Harborfront Festival, Canada, Cleveland Festival & Madison Festival (USA).[18]
From 1986–96, Ravikiran trained with the vocalist T. Brinda.[19] He is acknowledged for reviving classical values among the youth.[20] He has performed with other artists and presented several concerts which include pure solos, duos with kanjira/ghatam/mridangam apart from conventional recitals with multiple accompanists and collaborations with piano, keyboard, guitar and other instruments.[21]
He resumed his appearance as vocalist from 1999 and has since presented voice concerts for organizations in and outside India including the Cleveland Festival & the Chicago World Music Festival. His vocal albums include Genius at Work.
Ravikiran has introduced several technical innovations on the chitravina.[22]
Composeredit
Ravikiran has created over 800 classical Indian and contemporary compositions. His Indian classical pieces include musical forms such as varnam, krti, javali, tillana and padam. He has created pieces in each of the 35-talas of Carnatic Music.[23] as well as a 72-mela ragamalika geetam, a 13-part piece that spans over all the 72-parent ragas of Carnatic music in seven minutes.[24]
In January 2016, Ravikiran composed music to 1330 tirukkural verses in 16 hours over 3 days at the International Institute of Tamil Studies, Taramani, Chennai.[31][32]
Operasedit
Ravikiran has also written a number of internationally staged operas:
The Almighty Trinity, a production composed entirely in Telugu, highlighting the harmonious interactions between Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.[37][38]
Panchakriya
Panchali Shapatam
Melharmonyedit
Ravikiran is known for his concept of melharmony,[39] which explores Western style harmony anchored on (Eastern style) melodic rules of evolved systems such as the raga system of Indian music. Melharmony is regarded as a " a contemporary musical movement" [40] with an aim to unify music systems of the world[41] by taking into cognisance the rules and aesthetics of all fused systems in any given collaboration. Ravikiran introduced this award-winning concept[42] during his collaboration with artists of the BBC Philharmonic, at the Millennium Festival, UK in Oct 2000.[43]
Melharmony concerts with major orchestras like Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra's have attracted audiences of 45,000 people at times.[44] The concept has inspired critical discussion among scholars[45] in international conferences including Society for Music Theory Conference, Boston (2005) and Melody, Harmony, Melharmony conference, Houston (2014).[46] Melharmony shows with School Orchestras have enabled middle and high school children in the West glean insights into how harmony can be centered on sophisticated rules of melody.[47][48]
Ravikiran has also melharmonically rearranged and showcased the works of the great Masters in the twin-Composer series of festivals - OVK-Bach, Tyagaraja-Mozart and Dikshitar-Beethoven since 2013.[49]
Collaborationsedit
Ravikiran has created music for Western Classical Symphony Orchestras, Chamber Orchestras, String Quartets as well as Caprices for solo violins. He has collaborated with top-draw artistes of various genres such as Taj Mahal,[50] Larry Coryell, Martin Simpson, George Brooks, Simon Phillips, Roland van Campenhout and orchestras such as BBC Philharmonic,[51] Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Goettingen Quintet, Germany, Apollo Chamber Players, Houston,[52] Middleton Community Symphony Orchestra[53] and Sacramento Symphony.[54]
Ravikiran, is known for his large repertoire and for training a number of disciples around the world,[58] many of whom are award-winning performers and teachers.[59][60][61][62] His students have made contributions in other arenas.[63] His disciples span a cross section of vocalists, violinists as well as exponents of flute, guitar, veena, keyboard in addition to the chitravina.[64] He has performed and written about the 18th century composer Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi.[65]
Planet Symphonyedit
Ravikiran initiated the Planet Symphony Global Art-Science-Social Environmental initiative to raise awareness of the precarious climate crisis. Within weeks the organisation had a global membership of over 2300 from 65 countries including prominent musicians, scientists, journalists, NGOs and citizens and students from other walks of life.[66] A mammoth Global production, “Climatrix Symphony — Planet Anthem” was released for climate action in which hundreds of Grammy and other international award-winning exponents and students of Classical, Jazz, Carnatic, Hindustan, folk and film music collectively recorded on a dazzling array of 50 instruments and shared their concerns with world leaders through an open letter.[67] The Planet Symphony also came up with original perspectives including Roof Greening as a means to attract and regulate rain in many regions.[68] Their Climate literacy programs have won much acclaim all around [69] as also their concept of Smart Planet which Ravikiran explained was to drive home the point that “The need of the hour is to be environmentally smart and not only electronically smart.” [70]
Ambassador of Cultureedit
An active champion of culture,[71][72] Ravikiran has performed extensively in both urban and rural schools & colleges across various countries. At age 20, he organised a symbolic non-stop 72-hour (which extended to almost 75 hours) concert for "world peace and prosperity" that brought together the who's who of Carnatic music.[73] He has also presented concerts for Social Harmony to highlight the unifying powers of art.[74]
Rural Music Education Projectsedit
In 2006, Ravikiran pioneered an initiative for Rural Children in India with the largest music camp of its kind for over 31,000 children in Tamil Nadu, India for the Indian Government's Sarva Shiksha Abhyan.[75] Besides he has mentored several performers from diverse communities.
Music in Schools & Universities in USA and Indiaedit
A lobbyist for cultural renaissance in India,[76] he was invited to provide syllabuses for Music Education in Schools in India for Grades I – VIII. In 2013, he introduced Indian music through Melharmonic creations for Middle and High School level orchestras in School Districts in USA such as Middleton & Sun Prairie, WI.[77] A summer course on Melharmony was introduced at the Eastman School of Music in 2015, by Ravikiran and renowned American Composer-Musician Prof. Robert Morris.
He has introduced Carnatic music in several countries such as Slovakia, Croatia and Slovenia.[78]
Ravikiran's concerts have raised substantial funds for disaster relief including Hurricane Katrina,[79] Tsunami of 2004 as well as for educational, health and cultural initiatives.
Musicians Covid Relief Fundedit
Ravikiran set up the Musicians' Covid Relief Fund in 2020 to help numerous artists who were severely impacted by the pandemic. He got together Grammy and other Award winning celebrities from Indian and Western Classical, Jazz and other systems to play fundraisers to support artists in distress through concerts such as the Dikshitar-Beethoven Melharmony Festival.[80]
Other contributionsedit
Some of Ravikiran's other contributions[81] include:
Introducing Indian music in a number of schools in India and USA[82]
Pioneering Twin Composer Celebrations such as Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi-J S Bach Festival and Tyagaraja-Mozart Festival in cities such as Madison and Chicago, USA[83]
Pioneering a vocal instrumental melodic ensemble, Vintage Virtuosos and a series of albums titled "Celestial Ragas".[84]
Introducing the portable, bright toned, 20-stringed slide instrument, Nava-chitravina
Pioneering the use of teflon-slides in world music
New perspectives on millennia old concepts such as "22 shrutis"
Dance augmentation for instrumental concerts with dancer Smitha Madhav[85][86]
Introducing Tamil compositions to North Indian dance forms like Kathak & Odissi
Authoredit
Ravikiran has authored several sought after books on Carnatic Music including
Sangeeta Kala Sarathy, Dec 2013 (Parthasarathy Swami Sabha), Chennai[102]
Chitravina Kala Praveena, Federation of Sabhas, Chennai[103]
Sangeetha Kalanidhi, The Music Academy, Madras, 2017[104][105]
Sexual harassment allegationsedit
In connection with the Me Too movement, multiple claims that Ravikiran participated in workplace harassment of his students and subordinates surfaced.[106] Ravikiran, in an interview with the India Times and on his Facebook account, strongly denied the allegations.[107][108] Following these allegations, the Madras Music Academy dropped his concerts in the December Season 2018 music festival, along with six other musicians also accused.[109][110][111] The Deccan Chronicle reported that a committee constituted by the Federation of City Sabhas in October 2018 did not receive complaints of sexual harassment from any performing artists.[112] Ravikiran asserted that he has a "clean track record" and "substantial proof" of his innocence.[112]
^"Chicago – Chicago : News : Politics : Things To Do : Sports". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015.
^"Ravikiran - Shashank .- Spectacles -. Théâtre de la Ville, Théâtre des Abbesses - Paris". Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
^"Chitravina Ravikiran & Roland Van Campenhout". www.europalia.eu. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^"2009-Hungary-Trafo". raga.hu. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^Burke, Julia (19 September 2013). "A music lover's guide to Madison World Music Festival 2013". Isthmus | Madison, Wisconsin. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^Ramesh, M. (22 December 2016). "Call of the Titans". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^"Key notes of 'Piano Man'". Deccan Herald. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^Shankar, Uday (17 December 2011). "Challenges of internal diversity in the Carnatic genre". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^"Chitraveena N. Ravikiran at Tattvaloka". 30 December 2008.
^Rasika, Sangeeta (24 October 2013), Chitravina N Ravikiran's brilliant 72-Mela Ragamalika Geetam, archived from the original on 14 December 2021, retrieved 19 April 2017
^"New Indian classical raga named after legendary German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven - Trending & Viral News". www.timesnownews.com.
^"Now, a raga named after Beethoven". The Hindu. 29 January 2019 – via www.thehindu.com.
^Desi Talk, New York 3 March 2000 "Ravikiran to compose for BBC Philharmonic"
^Zinn, Joshua (3 October 2017). "Local Ensemble Celebrates 10 Years With Concert Inspired By Indian Classical Music". Houston Public Media. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^Rajagopal, Krithika, Chitravina N Ravikiran with Sacramento Symphony Orchestra, archived from the original on 14 December 2021, retrieved 26 December 2018
^Suresh, Vanitha, Chitravina N Ravikiran & Pt Birju Maharaj - "Breathless" Collaboration Part 1, archived from the original on 14 December 2021, retrieved 26 December 2018
^ abRavikiran, Chitravina N. (24 November 2016). "A phenomenon beyond parallel". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^Balasubramanian, Saravanan, Jugalbandhi by Shri. N. Ravikiran and Shri. U.Shrinivas., archived from the original on 14 December 2021, retrieved 26 December 2018
^Sruti – India's leading Music and Dance Magazine, Oct 2008
^Krishnan, Lalithaa (11 January 2018). "Siblings Anahita and Apoorva tap into the right notes". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^"The bond of music". www.thehansindia.com. March 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^R, Revathi (26 October 2017). "Celebrating the deity and devotee". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^Ganapathi, K. (21 July 2016). "Enchanting notes". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^"An artistic bureaucrat". www.thehansindia.com. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^"Tugging at the heartstrings with their soul-stirring ragas".
^"Chitravina Ravikiran honoured". The Hindu. 31 July 2017. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
^Kolappan, B. (16 July 2017). "Sangita Kalanidhi award for Chitraveena maestro Ravikiran". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^Staff Reporter (2 January 2018). "Music helps in bringing peace: Indira Banerjee". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
^"'Carnatic musician Ravikiran sexually harassed me': Two former students say 'Me Too'". The News Minute. 27 October 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
^"#MeToo: I have been abused and wrongfully accused, says Chitravina Ravikiran - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
^"Chitravina N Ravikiran issues another detailed denial of #MeToo allegation after Margazhi ouster - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
^"'Me Too' allegations: Madras Music Academy drops 7 artistes from Margazhi season". The News Minute. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
^"#MeToo in Carnatic music: Madras Music Academy's N Murali on addressing sexual harassment allegations against artists - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
^Kolappan, B. (25 October 2018). "Music Academy debars seven musicians this season, post #MeToo". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
^ ab"#Metoo in Carnatic may not shadow this Margazhi". Deccan Chronicle. 3 April 2019.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to N. Ravikiran.