Indian ragas: The Sound of Seasons

There's a unique collaboration this Sunday, between the Greater Cincinnati Indian Children's choir, Cincinnati Children's Choir, Shanti Choir and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra in "the Sounds of Seasons - a Musical Celebration of Time," by local composer Kanniks Kannikeswaran. Kanniks is an engineer by education, who teaches Indian music at CCM.

His latest work he calls "a choral symphonic expression of Indian ragas, a musical score that cuts across cultures, integrating choral and orchestral harmony with the ancient raga tradtiions of India." The score will present the imagery in the changing of the seasons.

(Concert times: 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Sycamore High School, 7400 Cornell Rod.) 513-686-1770.)

I asked Kanniks to tell me a bit about this piece, as well as last year's "Shanti -- A Journey of Peace," that brought together 150 singers who performed for a packed Aronoff Center. Here's what he said:

Philosophy: We have been exploring ragas in a choral context as a small group since 2001 ever since we moved into Mason. ... Shanti was conceived with raga based music, choral and orchestral harmony, classical and folk dances and multi-media.

The celebration of the joy of singing together, the celebration of enjoying the orchestral harmony in very Indian melodies; there was a sense of total inclusiveness, community around music.

For instance, in Cincinnati our senior most singer is an octogenarian. We also had young children sing the final piece 'Peace and Joy for ever'. It was sheer joy to watch children playing tag in the hallways singing tunes from the Shanti repertoire as their parents rehearsed!Shanti was a celebration of the state of Universal peace and this theme resonated powerfully with all participants and with the diverse audience.

Why does "world music" seem to be booming?

I am very honored that the mainstream Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra is playing The Sound of Seasons. There is more willingness on the part of people to explore new options, to feel out new sounds. Also, world music itself is evolving into forms that are more accessible to a wider range of people. Globalization is bringing people closer - and the willingness of people to try out something new is also growing.

What do you hope to achieve in your concert this weekend?

First, from the standpoint of the children's workshops that led to this, I would like to recall something from my childhood. I learned the ragas related to rain when I was 10 years of age - and I still remember the wet roads and the smell of the rain. When I smell the rain today, I think of the day that I was introduced to this raga. If the kids that sing this raga on stage can have such memories 35 years later, it would be phenomenal.