Kanniks Kannikeswaran

Kanniks Kannikeswaran
Born
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Other nameKanniks
CitizenshipUnited States
OccupationsMusician, composer, scholar
Notable workShanti Oratario, Vismaya

Krishnamurtha Kannikeswaran, known as Kanniks, is an Indian-born American musician, composer, writer, and music educator based in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1] His work includes musical productions, choral performances, lectures, and workshops.[2]

Education

In 1984, Kannikeswaran graduated from IIT Madras with a bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering. Later, in 1986, Kanniks received a master’s degree in Material Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, followed by an MBA from the same school in 1988. He later resumed his education and earned a doctorate in Indian Music from the University of Madras in 2014.[3]

Career

In late 1993, Kannikeswaran founded the Greater Cincinnati Indian Community Choir and in 1994, produced his first work, "Basant - a Musical Celebration of Spring".[2] Kanniks has assembled and led Indian American choirs in 10 cities in the United States.[4][5] He has presented lecture-demonstrations on the music of Dikshithar at the Music Academy in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.[6][7] His articles on music have appeared in online forums, and he has contributed music columns to newspapers.[8]

His collaboration with the Gundecha Brothers produced "Guruguha Dhruvapada" - a dhrupad, a concert featuring Kritis of Dikshitar rendered in the classical dhrupad style.[9] He has also worked with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Kanniks has also collaborated with the Korzo theater.[10] He has been an adjunct faculty member of musicology at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, since 1994.[11][12]

Research

The Indo-Colonial Music of Dikshitar

Kannikeswaran conducted research on the Indo-Colonial Music of Dikshitar and the Nottusvara Sahityas.[8] In December 2007, Kanniks presented a lecture-demonstration on this topic at the Music Academy Madras.[13] In 2008, he released the first recording of the Nottusvara Sahityas in the voice of his daughter Vidita Kanniks with western (largely Celtic) orchestration. This recording, titled "Vismaya - An Indo-Celtic Musical Journey", was released both in India and in the United States.[14]

Kannikeswaran presented his work at the annual meetings of the Society for Ethnomusicology in 2012,[15] 2014,[16] and 2015.[17]

In April 2009, Kannikeswaran performed thematic programs on Indo-Colonial Music of Dikshitar for India’s former president Dr. Abdul Kalam[18] and India's former ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar.

He has delivered talks, lecture-demonstrations, and articles on this topic throughout North America, including Berklee College of Music, the University of Cincinnati, Texas A&M University, and at the Media Rise Festival in Washington D.C. He has lectured internationally in Singapore (National University of Singapore), Trinidad, and India (Bangalore International Center, IIT Madras, and more).[19]

Dikshitar and dhrupad

Kannikeswaran has researched 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 concert highlighting Dikshitar's compositions that showed similarities to Dhrupad, in Houston (2012) and Cincinnati (June 2014).[9][20] He has published numerous articles and conducted lecture-demonstrations on this topic.[19]

References

  1. ↑ admin (2021-05-06). "Music Composer Kanniks Kannikeswaran Releases Video to Highlight Need for Preservation of Water Bodies". IndiaWest Journal News. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  2. 1 2 Richardson, Rachel (19 September 2012). "The Magical Musician From Madras". Mason Our Town (October–November 2012): 12, 13, 14. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Office of Alumni & Corporate Relations". acr.iitm.ac.in. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
  4. ↑ Burnett, John (7 November 2013). "Across America, Voices Rise To Reinvent India". NPR.
  5. ↑ Blum, Barbara. "UC Indian American choral composer in national spotlight". UC Magazine. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Reports on Lec-Dems". Kutcheri Buzz.
  7. ↑ "The influence of the dhrupad on Muttuswami Dikshitar kritis". Madras Heritage and Carnatic Music. 2010-12-16. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  8. 1 2 Kannikeswaran, Kanniks (March 14, 2013). "Legacy From Dikshitar". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  9. 1 2 Rao, Shuchita. "Music: Fusing Two Idioms". Khabar (July 2012).
  10. ↑ "Sharad, Celebrating Autumn". Topic Times. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "UC Indian American choral composer in national spotlight". University of Cincinnati. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  12. ↑ "Faculty of College-Conservatory of Music". CCM Faculty Biographies.
  13. ↑ Rao, Pappu Venugopala (2009). The Journal of the Music Academy Madras. 80: 93 https://musicacademymadras.in/catalogue/files/journals/Vol.80_2009.pdf. Retrieved 12 August 2025. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ "Vismaya". Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  15. ↑ American Musicological Society Society for Ethnomusicology Society for Music Theory: 71. 1 November 2012 https://societymusictheory.org/sites/default/files/events/programs/2012-program.pdf. Retrieved 12 August 2025. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ↑ "The Indo Colonial Music of Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775-1835)" (PDF). Society for Ethnomusicology 59th Annual Meeting. 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  17. ↑ "Contrasting Approaches to the Indigenization of Colonial Tunes in 19th and 20th Century British India" (PDF). Society for Ethnomusicology 60th Annual Meeting: 53. 2015.
  18. ↑ Sweeney, Scott (27 April 2009). "TiE Seattle Hosts Former President of India Dr. Abdul Kalam". oregonlive.com. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  19. 1 2 Vishwanath, Narayana (4 August 2014). "Truly, an engaging speech". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  20. ↑ Swamy, Prakash (June 8, 2012). "Exploring the Dhrupad-Dikshitar connection". Retrieved 19 January 2015.
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