International choral group seeks singers

Students at the University of Cincinnati have the chance to participate in Shanti: A Journey in Peace, a massive choral and orchestral production taking place at the Aronoff Center for the Arts March 25.

"It celebrates the idea of universal peace," said Kanniks Kannikeswaran, who conceived and composed the production that marries Eastern and Western music traditions.

Kannikeswaran said because the event is sponsored by UC's Just Community, it is important to have student participation and is seeking their help with the choir. He hopes to have about 20 students join in the weekly practices and at the performance.

Mitchel Livingston, vice president for Student Affairs and Services, promotes participation in the Just Community's programs to serve as "constant reminders that students are in a just community."

Shanti seeks to promote a similar ideal of peace, acceptance and inclusiveness, according to Kannikeswaran, which made the partnership of the two viable.

The show's premiere at the Tangeman University Center May 1, 2004, compelled Ohio Gov. Bob Taft to issue a resolution that recognizes that day as "Shanti - Unity in Diversity Day."

"[M]usic and dance show everyone the interconnectedness of all cultures and create unity and harmony among all people from different backgrounds," Taft said in the resolution.

Livingston said he believes in the powerful nature of Shanti's aim to promote peace and acceptance.

"People who have had this experience have walked away literally transformed," said Livingston.

"Shanti - a theatrical presentation of the theme of peace, [uses] the 5,000 years of Indian cultural history as the context and a grand music score synthesizing elements of ancient chants, Indian raagas and symphonic orchestration," according to a press release.

The Shanti Choir is comprised of the Greater Cincinnati Indian Community choir, the Martin Luther King Coalition Chorale, St. John's Unitarian Universalist Church Choir and the MUSE choir, totaling about 130 singers. The orchestra is multi-cultural and plays traditional music from both Eastern and Western music.

The Shanti production is a multimedia show, said Kannikeswaran.

The dancers perform traditional Indian dances while images are projected onto screens behind the choir.

The massive production was first performed in 2004 with the help from an Ohio Arts Council grant.

Kannikeswaran said that at that time the combination of Indian and Western musical traditions had not been done before.

"What it does through music is allow expression that is not unique to any one, but universal to everyone," said Kannikeswaran.

Traditionally, Indian music uses melodies that are sung or played by everyone. There is no choral tradition in Indian music, so a choral arrangement in an Indian style needed to be created from scratch.

In Western music, different sections play different melodies that layer over one another to form harmonies.

"Every practice was a learning process," Kannikeswaran said. He said that Indian singers learn by ear, and Western singers generally learn by reading music. During the performances, the Western singers held the score, while Indian singers went without.

Kannikeswaran met with Livingston when he was looking to have him make the opening remarks for his production, Blue Jewel. Their relationship has endured.

"He's a creative genius," Livingston said.