Ekata Muscat to host Carnatic Musical Concert from Oct 26-28

Muscat: Ekata Muscat is a voluntary, non-profitable organization which started its humble journey in the year 2018 with an ambitious plan of promoting the rich tradition of Indian classical Artforms. Ekata Muscat is making its humble effort to preserve the cultural heritage and identity and move it on to the next generation so that it can continue to flourish for many more generations.

Since its debut performance, in October 2018, Ekata’s Signature Programme, “Sangeethotsavam” a Carnatic Musical Concert, Ekata has been able to showcase and assimilate 250+ artists / maestros from different part of India, Oman, and other GCC countries.

As a part of its continuous efforts to the cause of spreading Indian Art & Music whilst using this as a platform to celebrate the strong inter-cultural ties between both the communities of India and Oman, are proud to announce this year’s “Sangeetholsavam” to be held from 26th of October 2023 to 28th of October 2023, at the Muscat Holiday Hotel Ball Room, from 7pm until 10pm.

On 26th October 2023, the first day of the Program would start with a live Performance by renowned Carnatic Musician and Playback Singer from India. She is a senior disciple of Dr. M Balamurali Krishnan. She has been a child prodigy recognising classical ragas from a very young age. She is also the recipient of numerous recognitions such as ISAI PEROLI, VANI KALA NIPUNA and YUVA KALA BHARATHI. She also has been awarded the Best Female Playback Singer for two consecutive years. Mahathi has served as a judge on reality shows like Super Singer and Sun Singer. Alongside her parents, she established the Mahathi Academy of Music and Dance in 2003, training over 500 students. Her latest venture is the Mahathi Online Global Music Academy, offering online music training to students in India and abroad

The Honourable Indian Ambassador His Excellency Mr. Amit Narang will be the Chief guest for the 2nd Days programme, i.e 27th October 2023, whereby we would be having a live Violin Performance by Padmasree Kumari A. Kanyakumari, a distinguished Carnatic violinist with over 58 years of experience. She is renowned as a soloist, accompanist, innovator, and organizer of instrumental ensembles. Known for her outstanding technique, creativity, and adherence to classicism, she has created unique ragams, including Saptadri ragams, Bharath, and Trimurthi. In 2015, she received the Padma Sree from the Govt of India and the Sangeet Natak Academy Award. Among her numerous accolades are the “Kalaimamani” award from the Govt of Tamil Nadu, “Ugadi Puraskar” from the Govt of Andhra Pradesh, and the “Sangeetha Kalanidhi” award from The Music Academy, Madras. She is also an “Asthana Vidushi” of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthana, Udupi, and Pejawar Mutt. She was also honored with “Honorary Citizenship” from the state of Maryland, USA, in recognition of her international acclaim as a violinist Ekata this year would be bestowing the Ekata “Sangeetha Sudha Nidhi” Award for 2023, to Padmasree A. Kanyakumari Amma.

On the finale day i.e 28th October 2023, we would be having performance from yet another prominent South Indian Carnatic vocalist, Palakkad Dr R Ramprasad, the Grandson of Palakkad Mani Iyer. He is recognized as one of the 50 most influential soft powers in India for two consecutive years and has performed alongside legendary artists. He is the recipient of the Sangeetha Nataka Academy’s Yuva Purashkar (2019) and has also recently developed a patented app called ‘manipravaaham,’ for assisting artists in creating and managing their concert song lists. He is an empaneled artist at the ICCR, and is the first Male artist to have performed live Carnatic music concert for the Indian Armed Forces (IAF – Army, Navy and Air force) in India.

Apart from music being his passion, he is also a trained economist (applied econometrics – PhD from University of Georgia), and was a visiting post-doctoral fellow at The Harvard School of Public Health a master’s degree in economics, in which he was awarded 7 gold medals and holds the record for the highest marks scored

For these three days, accompanying these vibrant performers, we have excellent accompaniment artists who are :- Sai Giridhar on Mridungam, VIdwan Vazhappally R Krishnakumar on Ghatam and L Ramakrishnan on Violin. All are A Grade artist of All India Radio.

Sri Sai Giridhar is a disciple of the legendary guru Sri M.L.N.Raju and Sri Parupalli S.Phalgun. He has also been awarded with Sangeetha Nataka academy YUVA PURASKAR award.

Vazhapally R Krishnakumar has accompanied eminent artistes like Dr. M Balamuralikrishna, T. N Sheshagopalan, Neyyattinkara Vasudevan, Dr.K J Yesudas, P. Unnikrishnan, Malladi brothers, M Jayachandran, Bombay Sisters, to name a few. Krishnakumar has been lauded for conceptualising and articulating a new musical expression with very special rhythmic notations named “MODAM – Mohana Ghata Naadam” incorporating the nuances of Ghatam . He was awarded the ‘Sangeetha Shresta Swati Thirunal award’ from Alapuzha in 2019

L. Ramkrishnan, has been tutelage of ‘Padma Shri’ Awardee Sangeetha Kalanidhi Kum. A.Kanyakumari since the year 1996, starting his first performance at the age of 12 and has been a constant presence in the concert circuit for the past 25 years. He has been awarded the ‘Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar’ awarded by the Sangeet Natak Akademi for the year 2019 and the titles ‘Vani Kala Nipuna’ by Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha, Chennai and ‘Shanmukha Sangeetha Shiromani’ by Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai in the year 2022

We request the wholehearted support of our media friends and esteemed media organizations in promoting this event. You are a vital link to connect to the third element of the art trinity; the art patrons & aficionados, to the other two elements; the art and the artistes. We look forward to a fruitful association with you, both in the present and future.