N. Ravikiran
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Chitravina N. Ravikiran (born February 12, 1967 in Mysore, Karnataka, India) is a composer of Indian Carnatic music. He has been called the "Indian Mozart". He is probably most famous for his concept of "melharmony", which is harmony which stays within the melodic rules of an Indian raga (musical mode). Considered a virtuoso chitravina player, he has been described as "probably the greatest slide instrumentalist in the world today" by Radio Australia. Ravikiran has also played the slide Hawaiian guitar, and is an accomplished vocalist. He invented a variant of the chitravina called the navachitravina, which is smaller and has a clearer tone in the higher frequencies. He currently resides in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Ravi Shankar, the famous sitar player, is most impressed with his talents, and is noted as saying: "If you don’t believe in God, just look at Ravikiran."
Ravikiran is the author of several widely read books, Appreciating Carnatic Music and Perfecting Carnatic Music Level I and II. He is also the founder of the International Foundation for Carnatic Music.
[edit] Melharmony
Melharmony is a concept created by Ravikiran in an attempt to introduce harmony into South Indian music. It differs from western musical harmony in that musical intervals and/or chords must be created using notes (swaras) permitted in the raga. In addition, emphasis is also placed on how the harmonization positively accentuates the structure of the music.
[edit] Collaborations
Ravikiran has worked with many other performers, from various musical styles outside his native Carnatic discipline, including Hindustani music, Filmi, Western classical music, African music, jazz, and pop. Prominent amongst the Indian musicians he has worked with is Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. He has also performed collaborations with American blues guitarist Taj Mahal, Brazilian jazz pianist Jovino Santos-Neto, American frame drum player Glen Velez, and Chinese pipa player Qiu Xia He, as well as Western classical orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra.
