PANCHAKSHARA: VIKKU VINAYAKRAM & 3 GENERATIONS is Coming to Brooklyn

Three generations of virtuosic musicians come together to provide rhythmic fireworks in this celebration of South Indian percussion. The group is led by the legendary Vikku Vinayakram, who has popularized the ghatam (clay pot) over his long career, was a founding member of the acclaimed Shakti ensemble with John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain, and received India's most prestigious awards and titles. He is joined by his two sons, V. Selvaganesh (hybrid drum kit), a leading musician in the world of rhythm who was a member of Remember Shakti, and Umashankar (ghatam), who is known for his meteoric rise in the classical Carnatic music field; his grandson, the dynamic Swaminathan Selvaganesh (kanjira - small frame drum, konakkol - vocal percussion), who has been lauded as one of the top kanjira players of his generation; and A. Ganesan (morsing - jaw harp), who has performed in ensembles with Zakir Hussain and toured with Vikku throughout the world.

Vikku Vinayakram, one of the most celebrated percussionists of South India, began performing at the age of 13. Son of the noted percussionist T. R. Harihara Sharma, he was a child prodigy who went on to accompany many famous Carnatic artists, including M.S. Subbulakshmi, G.N. Balasubramaniam, Mani Iyer, and Maharajapuram Santhanam, and perform his virtuosic rhythms with the Shakti fusion ensemble. For his contributions to Indian music, he has received India's major honors, including the Hafiz Ali Khan Award for "unmatched contribution in the field of music" (2000), the Padma Shri Award (2002), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship - the highest award in the performing arts in India (2012), and the Padma Bhushan (2014). He also was the first South Indian musician to be awarded a Grammy for Best World Music Album for his participation in Mickey Hart's Planet Drum, in which he played ghatam and morsing. He is Principal of Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya in Chennai, India - the academy established by his late father and teacher in 1958 that continues to produce new stars of Carnatic percussion.

V. Selvaganesh, one of India's leading kanjira players, has been mesmerizing audiences with his rhythmic genius since making his debut at the age of 10. He had his initial training at his grandfather's school in Chennai, and then studied with his uncle, T. H. Subashchandran. In addition to performing Carnatic music, he has appeared in many fusion, jazz, blues, flamenco, symphony orchestra, Celtic, Latin and jugalbandi (duet) concerts throughout the world. He has played in music festivals with such renowned Indian artists as L. Shankar, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Pandit Jasraj, Shivkumar Sharma, and Hariprasad Chaurasia, and toured the US with Zakir Hussain's Masters of Percussion and Remember Shakti with John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain. He has also worked with many leading music directors in India, composed and produced albums, and played with the Swedish bass virtuoso Jonas Hellborg and American guitar player Shawn Lane. In the field of Indian film music, he can be heard performing in Life of Pi and Mira Nair's Vanity Fair and Monsoon Wedding.

Umashankar, the only one amongst his siblings to follow in his illustrious father's footsteps by taking ghatam as his main instrument, gave performances at the age of five at his grandfather's school. When he was only 12 years old, he accompanied the legendary T. V. Gopalakrishnan in Kanchipuram, which led to his role as a popular accompanist in classical Carnatic music. He has accompanied such artists as T. M. Krishna, Vijay Siva, Sanjay Subramaniam, Unni Krishnan, Ganesh Kumaresh, Nithyashree Mahadevan, the Priya Sisters, and Sudha Raghunathan.

Swaminathan Selvaganesh, who has mastered the intricacies of kanjira, is from a family of virtuoso musicians that has been referred to as the "first family" of percussionists in Carnatic music. The grandson of Vikku Vinayakram and son of V. Selvaganesh, he started learning kanjira when he was four years old under the guidance of his grandfather and father and gave his first performance at the age of 13 accompanying his grandfather. Like his father, he is known for popularizing the kanjira through cross-cultural collaborations. He has toured widely with his grandfather and father, and composed music for films. He has shared the stage with such major artists as Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Jasraj, Balamurali Krishna and Zakir Hussain.

A. Ganesan has established his own style of playing the morsing and won accolades and honors for his dexterity and dynamism. He started learning morsing from Vikku Vinayakram's father Harihara Sharma and later on from Vikku. He has toured with Vikku throughout the world and performed in percussion ensembles featuring Zakir Hussain.

Info/tickets: https://www.robertbrowningassociates.com/19-20-vikku-vinayakram.html