Beyond Seasons

When: Sunday, May 6, 2007 at 4:00 PM and 6: 30 PM
Where: Sycamore High School Auditorium
What: A grand multimedia concert featuring a 130 member children's choir and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra
Admission: For information regarding tickets, contact 513 509 4670.

Please visit www.kanniks.com for more information.

On May 6, 2007 the Cincinnati Childrens Choir and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra join the Greater Cincinnati Indian childrens choir and the interactive choral music workshop series Beyond Seasons, to celebrate the finale of its first year with a grand collaborative concert event featuring original music by visionary musician/composer and music educator Kanniks Kannikeswaran.

This is a historic event in Cincinnati as it involves the coming together of about 65 children from the Greater Cincinnati Indian community with the about 65 children from the Cincinnati children's choir with children from all over the Cincinnati area. With the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra playing along with guest singers from the Shanti choir, this event brings art on a large scale to the suburbs of Cincinnati.

The Sound of Seasons, best described as a choral symphony of Indian ragas, is a musical score that cuts across cultures, integrating choral and orchestral harmony with the ancient raga traditions of India. The concert performance integrates this original music score with storytelling and imagery in a powerful presentation of the philosophy of the changing seasons.

According to Kanniks, The Sound of Seasons is a presentation of ideas that are common to all societies of the world. We take our environment for granted; however if we pause to look at the passage of time, we see patterns that make us grasp the miracle of existence. Marking the changes in seasons with festivities or rituals is a universal concept. Indian culture has recognized them with a series of raagas that have endured for over a millennium. By learning and experiencing these raagas, the Cincinnati citizens of tomorrow celebrate an ancient heritage and become a conduit for the preservation of ideas."

The workshop series 'Beyond Seasons' has brought together about 65 children of Indian origin in the Cincinnati area; and for a 9 month period these children have been learning by ear the raagas of the seasons.

For American-born children of Indian descent, says Kanniks, the workshops offer an opportunity for them and their Indian-born parents to share a unique aspect of their cultural heritage.

Robyn Lana, Cincinnati Childrens Choir Founder and Managing Artistic Director, says that collaborating with the Greater Cincinnati Indian children's choir exemplifies one of her organizations primary goals, to provide opportunities for the children to sing with children from other cultures in order to gain understanding and respect for the diversity of the world. Guest conductor Ray Wheeler (faculty member at the Division of Music Education - College Conservatory of Music) who will be conducting the concert considers this to be a groundbreaking multi-cultural event.

'The Sound of Seasons', like other projects created and produced by Kanniks Kannikeswaran, shares the vision of building community through the celebration of threads of commonality between diverse peoples and cultures. The Beyond Seasons project and The Sound of Seasons concert have been made possible in part by a grant from the Ohio Arts Council.