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Chitravina N Ravikiran Musician, composer & creator of Melharmony “Perhaps the world’s greatest slide instrumentalist today” Radio National, Australia Website: www.ravikiranmusic.com

An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

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Page 1: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Chitravina N Ravikiran

Musician, composer & creator of Melharmony

“Perhaps the world’s greatest slide instrumentalist today”

– Radio National, Australia

Website: www.ravikiranmusic.com

Page 2: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Executive summary

Chitravina N Ravikiran is one of

India's most celebrated

musicians and composers at the

global level today. Initiator of

Melharmony, a novel approach

that creates harmony with an

emphasis on melodic rules,

Ravikiran is a multi-faceted

genius who is as much a

performer as a visionary educator

with a passion for sharing his art

with students of all levels across

the globe.

He has made telling contributions to art and culture nearly 45 years. Ravikiran is

the youngest Indian musician to bag the President of India’s Sangeet Natak

Akademi Award in his 30s (picture) and has won numerous other awards and

citations across the world. In 2013, the City of Middleton in USA declared that the

3rd

Saturday of every November would be celebrated as “Melharmony Day”.

Hailed as the Mozart of Indian music, he made his first stage appearance at the

age of two, in 1969 (watch clip below).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4562RZiC4k

He gave his maiden vocal concert at age 5 and first instrumental concert at age 11.

Today, he is renowned as one of the best instrumentalists in the international

arena, a vocalist of merit and as a prolific composer in the field of world music as

well as Indian music and dance. He is the founder of the North American

Melharmonic Orchestra (NAMO) and The International Foundation for Carnatic

Music (IFCM).

This dossier offers glimpses of Ravikiran’s contributions as a prodigy, performer,

composer. He attributes all his success to his gurus Chitravina maestro

Narasimhan and Sangeeta Kalanidhi T Brinda.

Page 3: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Milestones & accomplishments - overview

• World’s youngest musician; professional appearance at two (in 1969),

identifying 325 ragas (melodic modes) and 175 talas (rhythm cycles).

• Tested by legends including sitar maestro Ravi Shankar.

• Awarded a Fellowship by The Madras Music Academy at age two.

• Full length vocal recitals since five.

• Instrumental (chitravina) shows

since 11 in major festivals and

venues across the world.

• Record non-stop 24-hour recital on

the chitravina in 1985.

• Represented India in Festival of

India, France at the age of 18.

• Introduced Melharmony in World

music.

• “A-Top” grade of India's National Radio and TV at age 21.

• Outstanding Artistes Category of Indian Government by 22.

• Numerous trips to various countries including USA, Canada, UK, Japan,

Australia, France, Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand, Yugoslavia,

Singapore etc.

• Introduced Carnatic music in several countries including Slovenia,

Brazil, Czech Republic, Croatia etc.

• Collaborated with artistes and orchestras of Western Classical, jazz, pop,

African, Middle Eastern, Chinese, South American and other systems

including Glen Velez, Taj Mahal, Larry Coryell, BBC Philharmonic,

Sacramento Symphony etc.

• Several best-selling audios and videos.

• Versatile composer with nearly 700 pieces for Indian music, dance & operas.

• Collaboration with the BBC Philharmonic artistes was selected as the best

concert out of nearly 2000 world music events in UK Millennium Festival.

• Introduced Carnatic Music and Melharmony in various school districts in

India and USA since 1994 such as Middleton, WI -

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/school-

spotlight-mozart-of-indian-music-visits-middleton-cross-

plains/article_ccf9e83c-a080-11e2-bb5a-0019bb2963f4.html

• Founded the North American Melharmonic Orchestra (NAMO) in 2012.

• Sparked off history-making events like the OVK-Bach Festival.

Page 4: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Ravikiran in World music

'Ravikiran has extended the borders of Indian music... ' MSN.com

Ravikiran is widely

acknowledged to be among

the more visible performers

from India in the world

arena. He is also perhaps the

most active Indian classical

composer in world music

today. His compositions have

been performed by artistes of

the BBC Philharmonic,

Sacramento Youth Symphony,

Cleveland Opera, world/jazz

exponents including Glen

Velez, George Brooks, Lori

Cotler & Jovino Santos Neto.

Ravikiran is:

• The creator of the innovative world music concept, Melharmony .

• The f irst to have presented melharmonic arrangements compositions of

traditional Indian composers such as Tyagaraja and Oottukkadu Venkata

Kavi with Western Classical Symphony or other orchestras, project ing

their works alongside that of Bach, Mozart and others.

• The f irst to have composed pieces with only descending phrases in world

music.

• The f irst Indian to have composed Caprices for Western solo violin.

• A pioneer in arranging practice level Indian pieces (geetam) for primary

and mid-level Western classical or jazz instrumentalists.

Ravikiran is among the more prolific composers in the Indian music and dance arena too with

nearly 700 compositions to his credit in five languages including Sanskrit and Tamil. He

discovered a new Indian raga when he was two and named it Choodamani, after his mother. He

is the only composer to have composed in each of the 35 talas (rhythmic modes) of Carnatic

music and the first to have composed a 72-mela ragamalika geetam, a unique

formula-piece appropriate for both practice and performance. Ravikiran is arguably the

most sought-after musician for dance projects across the world, both traditional and

contemporary.

Page 5: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Ravikiran's Melharmony

Melharmony is perhaps Ravikiran’s most signif icant contribution to world music.

It is a new approach to compositions and aesthetics that he initiated in 2000 at the Millennium

Festival in UK. The impact of the concept was acknowledged by the city of Middleton,

Wisconsin, USA which decreed that the 3rd

Sat of November every year be celebrated as

Melharmony Day from 2013 onwards.

Melharmony can be defined as "harmony and vertical layers of music with an emphasis on the

rules and principles of highly evolved melodic systems (such as the raga system of Indian music)".

This implies that in Melharmonic compositions, the approach to harmony is distinctive from the

classical concepts of harmony in the West, though there are recognizable areas of overlap,

governed by aesthetics. However, Melharmony is founded upon highly sophisticated and

rationally comprehensible rules. In reality, its principles can be applied to any well defined

melodic system of music.

Melharmonic compositions and arrangements

� Ravikiran has created and arranged melharmonic pieces for classical orchestras of varying

sizes/types including full sized symphonies as also for jazz and world music ensembles.

� Besides, he has composed Paganini-style Caprices for solo violin such as:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxTKdaH7QSY

� Equally significant is Ravikiran's Melharmonic arrangements of the compositions of Indian

composers such as Tyagaraja (1767-1847) and Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi (1700-65), whose

sophisticated melody-based creations offer a sharp contrast to the harmony-centric works of

Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.

� There are also practice level geetams and small compositions notated for primary or middle

level students in the West.

Melharmony today

Melharmony performances have won critical acclaim in several parts of the world. Ravikiran's

collaborators include artistes of the BBC Philharmonic, Sacramento Youth Symphony, Cleveland

Opera and artistes like Glen Velez, Jovino Santos Neto and George Brooks. The links below

features an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5LnJ3xzUpM

A rough (MIDI) arrangement of one of his symphonic pieces: https://soundcloud.com/chitravina-ravikiran/chitravina-n-ravikirans-7

Melharmony was introduced for the first time in a USA School District (in Middleton, Wisconsin)

in 2012 and the Middle and High School Orchestras performed some of Ravikiran’s compositions

in early 2013. Ravikiran also founded the North American Melharmonic Orchestra (NAMO) in

Oct 2012 and the orchestra debuted in March 2013 at the Cleveland Festival in CSU.

Academic acceptance

On 12 Nov 2005, at The Society for Music Theory Conference in Boston, Prof Robert Morris'

(Chair for composing at Eastman School of Music) paper, 'Ravikiran's concept of Melharmony: an

inquiry into Harmony in South Indian music' with relevant examples won much acclaim.

Page 6: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Instrumentalist

Ravikiran’s maiden instrumental performance was at age 11 and he soon established himself

among the frontline performers, playing feature recitals in major venues and festivals with

legendary accompanists. His music

drew connoisseurs, senior musicians and

thousands of music lovers.

All India Radio made history by inviting

him to perform at age 12 and again by

elevating him to the highest (A-Top)

grade within the time he was 21 or so.

Similarly, the Government of India's

Cultural authority (ICCR) put him in their

highest - 'Outstanding' category around

the same time and selected him to

represent India in major events in

various countries.

Ravikiran has performed literally across the world. His music has been appreciated in USA,

Canada, Holland, Poland, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, England, Switzerland, Germany,

Yugoslavia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Bahrain etc.

More significantly, he has Introduced Carnatic music in several countries including Slovenia,

Brazil, Czech Republic, Croatia etc.

The International festivals and venues he has been featured in include:

• Theatre de la Ville (Paris)

• Vienna Palace (Austria)

• Tate Modern Gallery (London)

• National Theatre (Melbourne, Australia)

• Institute of World Music (New York)

• India Gate Festival, Delhi

• Oji Hall (Tokyo, Japan)

• The Millennium Festival (UK)

• Autumn Festival (Paris, France)

• Brisbane Festival (Australia)

• Bangalore International Festival, India

• Harbour-front Festival (Toronto, Canada)

• House of World Culture (Berlin, Germany)

• Radio France Festival, Montpellier

• Esplanade Festival, Singapore

• Festivals of India (France, Germany and

Switzerland)

• Masters of Indian music (Budapest,

Hungary)

• Ghent Festival, Belgium

• India-Amsterdam Festival (Netherlands)

Page 7: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

• Festival da Pablo Casals (Prades, France)

• Indo-Brazil Festival, Brazil

• Madison Festival, USA

• Europalia Festival, Belgium

Ravikiran has established the chitravina's rightful stature as an ideal instrument to express

Carnatic music that blends the best of the much-sought-after vocal style with typical

instrumental features and techniques. He has successfully introduced it to the world music

scene, through collaborations with top-notch musicians from other systems such as Jazz, African,

Brazilian, Mid-Eastern, Chinese and North Indian. Ravikiran's proved the versati l ity of

the chitravina with his collaborative concerts with eminent Indian vocalists and

instrumentalists.

Ravikiran designed a new instrument, the nava chitravina . This is a sleek 20-

stringed sl ide-instrument that also gives him flexibi l ity in pitch, apart from a

sharper, br ighter tone.

A caricature of Ravikiran by a celebrated cartoonist in a leading publication

Page 8: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Youngest prodigy

Born on Feb 12, 1967, Ravikiran blazed

into the music field as the world's

youngest performing musician, at the

age of two. He made his first appearance

in April 1969, in Bangalore. In December

the same year, the premiere

organization for Carnatic music, The

Music Academy, Madras had invited

Ravikiran's father and guru, Chitravina

Narasimhan to present another

demonstration.

Ravikiran stunned the highly

knowledgeable audience consisting of

eminent musicians and thousands of music lovers by identifying and rendering over 325 ragas

(melodic scales) and 175 talas (rhythmic cycles). He also answered complex technical questions

on various aspects of Carnatic music and hit headlines all over the world. The Music Academy

Journal noted, “With mikes all around him and his hands full of biscuits, all the time playing, the

child gave out correct answers.” The pundits of the Academy, impressed, awarded young

Ravikiran a monthly stipend for three years.

Within a year Ravikiran had presented several such demonstrations in various venues in Madras,

Bangalore, Coimbatore and Bombay. At these demonstrations, Ravikiran was ‘tested’ by legends

such as Ravi Shankar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, M S Subbulakshmi, Flute Mali, Balasaraswati,

Palghat Mani Iyer and Alla Rakha, to name a few.

Faced with such preternatural precocity, Pandit Ravi Shankar is said to have remarked, “If you

don't believe in God, look at Ravikiran". The Astrological Magazine went ahead and 'proved' that

Ravikiran was the re-incarnation of his immortal grandfather Gotuvadyam Narayana Iyengar.

Amidst speculations in some quarters about whether all this was a freak or fluke event,

Ravikiran's father, Narasimhan declared that it had as much to do nurture as it had with nature

and vowed to make his son a solid musician and the rest is history, as they say.

Page 9: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Record-setting vocalist

Ravikiran debuted as a vocalist in 1972, at Coimbatore, India, at age five, again a record that

remains unsurpassed. The entire credit for this should go to his father, Chitravina Narasimhan,

whose unique teaching methods enabled Ravikiran to develop rigorous discipline and have fun

at the same time. Over the next couple of years, Ravikiran acquired a repertoire of over 500

compositions, and was also trained

in the deeper and improvisational

aspects of Carnatic music, including

the ragam-tanam-pallavi.

His ability to perform full-fledged 2-

3 hour concerts with senior

accompanists, displaying rare

mastery over both the melodic and

rhythmic aspects of Carnatic music,

amazed scholars and lovers of

music alike. Ravikiran presented

concerts to packed audiences for

major organisations in various

cities until the age of 10, at which

time (anticipating a voice change),

he switched over to the chitravina.

However, he resumed his vocal

recitals in 1999 and now presents both vocal and instrumental concerts. His masterful

knowledge, musical acumen, imaginative approach, breath control and diction, have made him a

much desired artiste in prominent venues both in and outside India.

From the late 1980-s, Ravikiran had the rare privilege of learning from the celebrated vocalist T

Brinda, widely acknowledged as a musicians' musician. His interaction with her added a whole

new dimension to his perception of the microscopic nuances of music.

His thematic vocal recitals on works of venerated composers such as Tyagaraja and Oottukkadu

Venkata Kavi have won approbation from music lovers.

Page 10: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Contributions

• Introduced the concept of

Melharmony in world music.

• Inspired a whole new generation

of young artistes from age two,

with his record-setting concerts.

• Introduced new techniques

blending vocal and instrumental

aspects that have placed the

chitravina on the world music map.

• Founder of an original style

(gharana) that blends tradition and

innovation with equal emphasis on

aesthetic appeal, intellectual

sophistication, creativity,

compositional rigour and soulful rendition with grammatical and technical

correctness.

• Hundreds of original compositions that have enriched music, dance and

drama.

• Has championed the works of the outstanding composer Oottukkadu

Venkata Kavi (1700-65) across the world (www.venkatakavi.org).

• First guru of note to put up syllabus based video courses for music online at

www.acharyanet.com.

• Has str iven to take classical music to rural areas – conducted a camp

through Sarva Shiksha Abhyan for over 30,000 rural children in Tamil Nadu

with specially produced videos and books.

• Brought back the traditional name, Chitravina to the instrument that was

called Gotuvadyam in recent t imes.

• Designed a new version of the chitravina called navachitravina.

• Founded the International Foundation for Carnatic Music

(http://ifcm.ravikiranmusic.com).

• Established the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund in 1994.

• Actively involved in plans and projects for cultural renaissance in the

country at the educational, corporate and media levels.

• Created a f irst-of-its-kind classical music ensemble, Vintage Virtuosos to

specially popularize masterpieces.

• Organized a non-stop 72 hour relay concert festival at the age of 20 (in 1987) for world

peace.

• Produced several types of educational and entertainment audio and video albums for

students and music lovers at various levels. • Penned widely read articles on various subjects including several in his own Blog -

http://ravikiranmusic.blogspot.com/

Page 11: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Author

Ravikiran has authored several impact-making books in the field of

music. Books by or on Ravikiran include:

Appreciating Carnatic Music

Perfecting Carnatic Music – Level I

Perfecting Carnatic Music – Level II

Compositions of Tanjavur Shankara Iyer

Inaiyatra Innishai – Level I

Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi - Life and Contributions

Saptaratnas and Navavaranams of Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi

Sada Sharanam -select compositions of Ravikiran (Swati Soft Solutions)

Adityodayam – select compositions of Ravikiran by Savita Narasimhan

Besides, he has numerous articles to his credit in leading dailies magazines and

critically acclaimed papers in Journals across the world over the years.

Page 12: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Guru

• Among current-day top performers, Ravikiran has probably trained and

presented the most number of young students in recent t imes.

• His innovative methods including online lessons at www.acharyanet.com

and tele-teaching have made music accessible to numerous students al l

over the world and also inspired several musicians to fol low suit.

• Several of Ravikiran's disciples have risen in stature and are active

performers on the global platform, such as Savita Narasimhan, Akkarai

Subhalakshmi, Veena Sivakumar, T K Ramachandran, Vishaal Sapuram,

Anahita and Apoorva Ravindran, Mysore Sangeeta, Emani Lal ita Krishna, B

Bhargavi and Aditya Mohan, to name a few.

• His non-Indian and North Indian students include Canadian composer

Polivios Issariotis, S lovenian Vedic and cultural activist Emili ja Kercan,

guitarist-composer Neil Mukherjee & Nupur Joshi .

• Himself a Master Trainer in USA’s Folk & Traditional Arts init iative,

Ravikiran also has several students who are Master Trainers in various

states.

• Ravikiran refined teaching methods and created a syllabus for Carnatic

music, through books such as Perfecting Carnatic Music.

• Init iated the Rural Talent Recognition & Translation (RTRT) in India and

designed courses & conducted special camps for over 30,000 children in

the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

• He has conducted camps and courses in major cit ies across the world

including Washington DC, Los Angeles, Dallas, Denver, Houston, San

Diego, San Jose, Sydney, Ljubl jana, Bangalore, Chennai and Mysore.

• He has come up with several educat ional audio and video productions.

• Ravikiran has presented formal maiden concerts (arangetrams) of several

disciples of his such as Vishaal Sapuram, Arjun Adapall i , Aditya

Kanukurthy and Ganesh Raman (USA), Supriya Balakrishnan, Ashwin

Sridhar (India).

Ravikiran's musical vision, his large repertoire from authentic sources, his

conviction in his art and his evolved teaching methods have made him one of

the most sought-after gurus in Carnatic arena today. A stickler for musical

ethics in his unswerving f idelity to classicism, Ravikiran has been a role model

for many aspirants as well as professionals. The power of his teaching also l ies

in his vast experience, eye for detail and perfection, abil ity to communicate to

students of various age groups and levels and make this highly serious art seem

like effort less fun.

Ravikiran strongly believes that perfection involves a conscious attempt at

correctness. He also believes that innovation should not be a camouflage for

shaky foundations in tradition, or an evasive excuse for those who find the

rigours of classicism too strenuous.

Above al l , he has endeavoured to foster the spirit of self-enjoyment among his

students.

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WORLD MEDIA ON RAVIKIRAN

Montreal Express, Canada

‘…(2-year old) Ravikiran could answer technical questions, identify tunes & name the composers’

Indian Express, India

"...If the vocalist had been a veteran musician, the reviewer may have raved about his virtuosity and

complete mastery. But when the singer happens to be a frail but precocious child, only five years of

age, the reviewer is at his wits end. It needs a philosopher, a meta-physicist and spiritualist to

adequately describe or explain this rare phenomenon... a manifestation of divine grace..."

New York Times, USA

‘…Infinite capacity for micro-tonal shadings reminiscent of the human voice… the core of Carnatic

music played with teasing precision…’

The BBC Music Magazine, UK

‘...an impressive solo,… wonderfully resonant…infectiously lively intricate up-tempo material…’

The Hindu, India

‘…An icon of perfection... For Ravikiran, music is literally child’s play…’

The Sunday Star, Malaysia

‘…Combines breadth of vision and expansive imagination… accuracy and spellbinding speed… hand

his music a singing quality that is divine…'

Los Angeles Times, USA

‘…The program was distinguished by Ravikiran’s ravishing playing… an arresting virtuoso…”

Toronto Sun, Canada

‘Instinct dictates that anyone who's christened after an instrument is probably a real terror on it. So

it is with 34-year-old Ravikiran, a wizard on the Chitravina… magical collaboration with Chinese,

Brazilian, and Indian musicians… stunning level of virtuosity and improvisation…’

The Age, Australia

‘…Ravikiran's strong rhythmic structures, and free form interaction with instruments is the first

reason for the dancer's expansion of the language…’

Folk Roots, UK

'Sliding around on the Chitravina, Ravikiran plays with lightning speed and laser precision...'

Page 14: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Wisconsin State Journal, USA

‘…The Mozart of Indian Music…’

The Beat, USA

"Heart-stopping mastery..."

Asian Eye, UK

'A musical genius... stunned the world at the age of two... enjoys

a global appeal...'

Wellington Post, New Zealand

'Master of the chitravina... an unprecedented phenomenon...'

Oregon Voice, USA

'...music lovers were treated to a performance of epic proportions ...'

Mixdown, Australia

'The Crown Prince of Carnatic Music... enchanted audiences were exposed to his composing

talents...'

The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, USA

‘(In Lakshmi Prabhavam) Ravikiran stuck to a classical idiom coloured by inventive instrumentation…’

Liberation, Paris

‘…Sets a great tempo right from the beginning…interesting duets with percussion…’

Business Line

‘…Ravikiran is synonymous with the Chitravina…the man is as interesting as the instrument…’

The Statesman, India

‘…Whiz-kid…It was enthralling to behold how the electronic instrument (slide guitar) produces such

an authentic interpretation of the raga…’

The Strait Times, Singapore

‘…His music hits the right notes in the West…’

Page 15: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Discography

Ravikiran gave has first recording in 1979, for the

Master Recording Company. He has since been

featured in several of the world's leading labels

including Nimbus, Naxos, EMI, Kings, Waterlily and

Music Today. His music has made it to Top 10 of

World Music Charts several times. His recordings are

available in leading outlets across the world as well as

online in sites including Apple I tune, Amazon.com,

www.acharyanet.com etc. For a detailed list, please

visit:

http://www.ravikiranmusic.com/albums_solo.htm

http://www.ravikiranmusic.com/albums_collaborations.htm

http://www.ravikiranmusic.com/albums_vv.htm

Page 16: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Awards and Titles

Ravikiran is one of the more decorated artistes in India at the National,

International, State and Cultural level. He received a fellowship from the

Music Academy, Madras at age two and was awarded the title 'Arul Isai

Selvan' in 1973, at the age of 6. He has since been the first or youngest to

receive many awards. Mentioned below are some of those.

International Level

• Millennium Festival Award (Millennium

Commission, Government of UK)

• Harvard Sangeet Award (Harvard University,

USA)

• Citation from City of Houston (USA)

• Citation from City of Tulsa (USA)

• Proclamation of “Annual Melharmony Day” - City of Middleton (USA)

• Sangeeta Ratnakara (Cleveland Festival, USA)

• Chitravina Vidya Varidhi (Perth, Australia)

• Vadya Ratnakara (Austin, USA)

• Best Contemporary World Album (New Age Voice Awards, USA)

National/State Level

• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

• Sanskriti Award (Sanskriti Foundation)

• Star of India Award (Wisdom International)

• Kalaimamani (Tamil Nadu State)

• Kumar Gandharva Samman (Madhya Pradesh State )

• Rotary Lifetime Achievement Award

• Numerous other artistic titles from cultural organizations

Page 17: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

Chitravina: A unique instrument

A very colourful introduction by Radio National, Australia (29th Oct, 2002) runs thus: "Our main

man Ravikiran - from India's south - plays what may be the world's oldest "slide" instrument

(sorry, bluesmen & Hawaiians - you came along more than a few hundred years "late"), but until

he came along no-one had applied teflon to it! Perhaps the world's greatest slide player, he's

both revived & updated his ancient instrument." The chitravina is one of the most exquisite of

Indian musical instruments. Also referred to as the gotuvadyam, it is a 21-stringed, fretless lute,

with a history going back to nearly 2000 years.

STRUCTURE

The main sound chamber is hemispherical and is connected

to a hollow stem, about 32 inches long and four inches

wide. The two parts are made out of wood and have a flat

top. A secondary resonator, made out of a hollowed gourd,

is attached at the other end of the stem. Metal strings are

secured at the right end of the resonating bowl, and at the

other end, on wooden pegs along the side of the stem. Six

main melody strings run across an elevated bridge, while

three secondary strings (used for maintaining drone and

rhythm) run on a curved bridge that is fixed to the side of

the main bridge. Twelve sympathetic strings run parallel to and below the melody strings, across

a smaller second bridge.

INTERNATIONAL AWARDS

The global eminence of the Chitravina has been established in recent years by Ravikiran, whose

concerts and recordings won several awards at the international level, including in the

Millennium Festival in UK in 2000 (with artistes from the BBC Philharmonic orchestra). The

world music album, Rays and Forays featuring Ravikiran with Grammy Award winning drummer

Glen Velez, Chinese Pipa player Qiu Xia He, Brazilian Pianist Jovino Santos Neto, kanjira genius

Harishankar and Indian mrdangam exponent Poovalur Srinivasan (by Naxos Records), was

selected as the finalist for Best Contemporary World Album of 2001.

Page 18: An extensive Dossier of Ravikiran with intro to Melharmony with

CONTACT

Chitravina N RAVIKIRAN

Phones: India: (+91) 98401 22711

USA: (+1) 626 354 4329

[email protected]

[email protected]

Web site: www.ravikiranmusic.com

Blog: http://ravikiranmusic.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ravikiranmusic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ravikiranmusic