Erickavu N Sunil | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 15 March 1977 Haripad, Alappuzha district, Kerala, India |
| Occupation(s) | Mridangam artist |
| Instruments | Mridangam |
| Years active | 1985–present |
Erickavu N Sunil (Sunil Narayana) is an Indian Mridangam player and author.[1][2][3]
Early life and background[edit | edit source]
Erickavu N Sunil was born (on 15 March 1977) to K. Narayana Panicker and Late V. Saraswathi Amma in Haripad, Kerala, India. He started learning the Mridangam at the age of four. His initial Gurus were Late Krishnappa Bhagavathar and M.S. Raju. He had his advanced studies in Mridangam from the Legendary Maestro Sangeetha Kalacharya Late Prof. Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair.[4][5]
Musical career[edit | edit source]
An A-grade artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan, Sunil has performed alongside musicians like Padmabhushan Sangeetha Kalanidhi T. V. Sankaranarayanan, Padmasri Neyyattinkara Vasudevan, Padmasri Prof. Parassala Ponnammal, Madhurai G.S. Mony, Prof. Mavelikkara Prabhakara Varma, Dr. K. Omanakutty, Prof. K. Venktaramanan, Dr. S. Sowmya, Kunnakkudi Balamuralikrishna, Dr. Sreevalsan J. Menon, Sankaran Namboothiri, Thiruvengadu Jayaraman, Sharreth, M. Jayachandran, Balabhaskar, and many others. He teaches Mridangam online[6] through Skype, and has students in Germany, US & Middle East.[7] Sunil leads the team "Laya Vadya Sudha"[8]—the "Tala Vadya"—Percussion Ensemble—featuring Indian percussion instruments Mridangam, Kanjira, Ghatam, Morsing, Tabla, Mizhavu, etc. Sunil had scripted and directed Nadasanjeevani—a unique program on Music Therapy, which was telecasted in Asianet Cable Vision (ACV) as 9 episodes in 2006.
Sunil has put his musical acumen to best use by conceptualising and rolling out ‘Indeevaram Cultural Trust’, a platform to provide budding artists with the opportunity to synergise their musical talent, and to nurture the younger generation and his disciples spanning across the globe. Sunil always had a keen interest in knowledge dissemination which resulted in his creating informational short videos hosted on his YouTube channel. He is the author of the celebrated book 'Resounding Mridangam'.
Indeevaram Cultural Trust[edit | edit source]
Indeevaram[2] is a Trivandrum-based cultural trust founded by Sunil in 2018. Indeevaram[9] envisions bringing global talent in the field of classical art forms together to showcase the Indian powerhouse of talents. It is a confluence of art, artists, and the varied hues of India's culture. Indeevaram aims at bringing together the prodigies and amateurs on the same platform as that of the legends and maestros. Indeevaram intends to do this through multiple approaches.
- To build a strong online presence to attract classical art talent from across the globe to make this event a one of larger reach.
- To conduct annual festivals that will bring all talents together.
- To provide a single platform for Music, Dance, Literature, Traditional Arts, Fine Arts, etc.
- To give access to Seminars, Talk-Shows, Workshops and Exhibitions.
RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM[edit | edit source]
'RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM: The Majestic South-Indian Drum'[10] - the first book authored by Sunil, explores the nuances of Mridangam. The book is a beautiful journey in time and history. It is designed for a wider readership comprising music students as their academic source at universities across the globe, performing musicians, followers of Indian & Western classical music, and anyone who wishes to gain interdisciplinary knowledge in music. Analysis of the physics of Mridangam would enthuse readers with a scientific bent of mind. It covers a comparative analysis of the various music genres to appreciate synergy and synthesis. The book also contains unheard vignettes of 200+ Mridangam masters. Prof. Trichy Sankaran has written foreword to the book.
RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM[11] was formally released in India on 18 April 2021 by Padma Bhushan K. S. Chithra.[3][12] The book is available on Amazon[13] all over the world. RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM is now a reference text and is part of the syllabus for music students at various universities across the globe.
Awards, achievements, and titles[edit | edit source]
- He is an A Grade Mridangam artist at All India Radio and Doordarshan.
- He received the prestigious "Chembai Award" (the award given to outstanding young Mridangam Artists) from Chembai Memorial Trust, Trivandrum in 2006.
- He received the "Pathiramkulangara Devi Chaithanyashri" title in 2019 from Pathiramkulangara Devi Temple, a major temple in Alleppey District under Travancore Devaswom Board.
- He received the 'Special Honour' from Parakkadathu Koyikkal Trust (Tripunithura) and Sree Poornathrayeesa Sangeetha Sabha (Tripunithura) on publishing RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM (2021).
- He was awarded the Junior Research Fellowship by the Department of Culture, Government of India (2011-'12).
- He was awarded the Senior Scholarship by the Department of Culture, Government of India in (1996-'97).
- He won first prize and a gold medal in Mridangam at the Inter-university National Youth Festival held at Gulbarga, Karnataka, in January 1995.
- He was the winner in Mridangam at Kerala University Youth Festival for four consecutive years (from 1993 to 1997) representing Mar Ivanios College, Trivandrum. While at school, he received several prizes.
- He was nominated as a member of the panel of judges for Mridangam in Kerala State Schools Youth Festival for several years.
Personal life[edit | edit source]
Apart from his artistic excellence, Sunil is also known for his academic brilliance. He completed schooling from St. Thomas High School, Karthikappally (near Haripad). After his professional education (Graduation in physics from Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram, and Masters in Computer Applications from College of Engineering, Trivandrum), he pursued an active career in Information Technology for two decades with corporate houses including Ernst & Young. Sunil is settled in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. His wife Indu is a senior IT professional, also an expert in Aksharaslokam (a traditional way of chanting Slokas - poems). They have two sons, Bhagath Sunand and Bharath Sunand, both students of Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram. Their eldest, Bhagath, is pursuing Violin and Mridangam.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Chris (19 July 2012). "Techie drummer". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 M, Athira (27 June 2019). "Indeevaram, a performance space for prodigies and amateurs". Retrieved 17 March 2021 – via www.thehindu.com.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Playback Singer KS. Chithra releases 'RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM: The Majestic South-Indian Drum". UNI News. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ↑ "Mridangam player Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair dies". Kaumudiglobal.com. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ↑ "Erickavu N Sunil, Mridangam Artist". Haripad, Alappuzha. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Teachers and Performers of Indian Music and Dance in Kerala". chandrakantha.com. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
- ↑ M, Athira (3 October 2019). "Musicians and dancers of Technopark step out as tutors". Retrieved 17 March 2021 – via www.thehindu.com.
- ↑ "నాదనీరాజనం | Nadaneerajanam |13-09-19 | SVBC TTD". Retrieved 17 March 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ "Art house". epaper.thehindu.com. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
- ↑ "A first-of-its-kind book on the anatomy of mridangam". The Hindu. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ↑ Sreevalsan Thiyyadi (28 May 2021). "Anatomy of a drum". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
- ↑ "K.S. Chithra releases RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM". Manorama Online. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ↑ "RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM". Amazon. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.