Erickavu N. Sunil

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Erickavu N Sunil (Sunil Narayana) is an Indian Mridangam player and author.[1][2][3]

Early life and background

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

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'.

File:Front Cover - Resounding Mridangam - Erickavu N Sunil.png
RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM by Erickavu N. Sunil
Padma Bhushan K. S. Chithra formally releasing RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM
Erickavu N Sunil accompanying Prof. Parassala B. Ponnammal at Doordarshan National Program of Music in 2009
Accompanying T. V. Sankaranarayanan as part of Onam celebrations organized by Government of Kerala in 1995
Performing 'Laya Vadya Sudha' - the percussion ensemble concert at SVBC TV Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in 2019
Accompanying Neyyattinkara Vasudevan in 1996
Accompanying Dr. S. Sowmya at Nishagandhi Music Festival, Trivandrum in 2019

Indeevaram Cultural Trust

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

'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

  • 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

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

  1. ↑ Techie drummer. Deccan Chronicle(2012-07-19).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Indeevaram, a performance space for prodigies and amateurs, M, Athira(27 June 2019).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Playback Singer KS. Chithra releases 'RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM: The Majestic South-Indian Drum. UNI News(2021-04-19).
  4. ↑ Mridangam player Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair dies. Kaumudiglobal.com(2012-07-24).
  5. ↑ Erickavu N Sunil, Mridangam Artist. Haripad, Alappuzha(2018-02-14). Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  6. ↑ Teachers and Performers of Indian Music and Dance in Kerala. chandrakantha.com.
  7. ↑ Musicians and dancers of Technopark step out as tutors, M, Athira(3 October 2019).
  8. ↑ నాదనీరాజనం | Nadaneerajanam |13-09-19 | SVBC TTD.
  9. ↑ Art house. epaper.thehindu.com.
  10. ↑ A first-of-its-kind book on the anatomy of mridangam. The Hindu(2021-05-27).
  11. ↑ Anatomy of a drum. The Hindu(2021-05-28).
  12. ↑ K.S. Chithra releases RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM. Manorama Online(2021-04-19).
  13. ↑ RESOUNDING MRIDANGAM. Amazon(2021-03-02).

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