Raga Choral

Founded by musician and composer Kanniks Kannikeswaran in 1994,the choir’s repertory sounds like a complicated musical experiment. They create Western choral pieces based on ragas,alaaps,tarana and sargam of Hindustani and Carnatic classical music. The lyrics are in Sanskrit and dancers accompany the vocals. At the World Choir Games,for instance,the songs were accompanied by yoga-based choreography and kathak pieces.

“There are counter melodies,there is harmony,” says Kannikeswaran,a

Chennai-born,IIT-Madras graduate,who migrated to Cincinnati in the ’80s. “The manner in which I have arranged these compositions is such that the fundamental framework of the raga is not violated,” he adds. A major influence on Kannikeswaran’s music is the less-known Nottuswara Sahitya,Indian pieces based on Western notes that were first composed by Carnatic classical musician Muthuswamu Dikshitar in the 18th century.

Members of the 36-piece choir speak Hindi,Punjabi,Gujarati,Malayalam,Telugu and Bengali among others but sing in one voice. “Our performances are about individual self-expression. Western choirs look at music scores written in the Western staff notation and sing together. We learn the parts by heart,the way Indian classical music is traditionally learnt. There is no written music,” he adds.

The choir has mostly performed in the US,but never in India,though Kannikeswaran has collaborated with Mallika Sarabhai and the Gundecha brothers. “The only way to bring this music to India is to build a local choir,rather than what we already have here. My vision is also to introduce it in schools,like we did in the US,” says Kannikeswaran.