Hyderabad Arts Festival 2016 - Mélange of South Indian Classical Percussion

Saptakshara Performance by Ghatam master Vikku Vinyakaram held

Vikku Vinayakram and performance of three generations of artists of same family performing together from a single platform was unique and a huge hit with 1000 plus audience at Cybercity Convention Center

Hyderabad, May 08, 2016.....Hyderabad Arts Festival is going strong with each passing week. A new event Saptakshara by Ghatam artist Padma Bhushan Vikku Vinayakaram held today at Cyber city Convention Center at Madhapur.

Over 1000 music lovers of Vikku Vinayaram witnessed the melodious karnatic music concert.

Vikku Vinayakram played Carnatic music with the ghatam, an earthen pot. He is credited for the progress and development as well as popularizing of the ghatam. He has a tall achievement. He has done to Ghatam what Zakir Hussai dod to the Tabla. He brought Ghatam to the centre stage of performing arts.

His eldest son V. Selva Ganesh was at drums, V. Umashankar,his younger son was at Ghatam, Swaminathan his grandson and son of Selva Ganesh was at Manjeera and N. Ramakrishnan, his son in law was at Mridangam and A Ganesan was a morsing player.

Three generations of artists his brother, two sons and grand son, son in law played together from a single platform was a record by itself.

The overwhelming response Vikku Vinyakram received an indication that how popular he with Hyderabadis.

Chatur Ghatam was the highlight of the evening which received thunderous applause from the audience.

The young Swaminathan who picked up the Manjeera at age 4 proved to be an artists with on par with the best. He developed his own version of double Manjeera and produced music of all together a different sorts like the fighting between wife and husband, helicopter sounds and train sounds on the plains as well as on bridge. He received thunderous applause for his brilliant performance. Aside from accompanying his Grandfather, father and uncle, he has accompanied legends like Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia ji, Pt. Balamurali Krishna Garu, Ustaad Zaakir Hussain and the like

The Ghatam is a percussion instrument used in the Carnatic music of South India. It is one of the most ancient percussion instruments of South India. And Vikku Vinayakram is hugely credited with popularizing the ghatam across the globe.

Grammy-winning ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakram, will perform along with with his own family of three generations from single stage. He is the first South Indian musician to be awarded the Grammy for Best World Music Album for his participation in Mickey Hart's Plane Drum, in which he played ghatam and morsing.

Currently, Vinayakram has two albums of his on the market. One, entitled "Thala Vadya Katchery", is a masterful gathering of violin, konnakol, mridangam, khanjira, ghatam, morsingh, and dholak. Other albums of Vinayakram include "Together", a gathering of Vinayakram along with both of his sons, and "Moon Over the Isles", an assembly of various percussionists from Vinayakram's school.

He was awarded the 2012 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna), the highest award in performing arts in India, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

Vinayakram’s concert career began at the age of 13. He accompanyed many famous vocalists in Carnatic music at the time, including Chembai Vaidyanath Bhagavatar, Mangalampalli

Balamuralikrishna, G.N. Balasubramanium, Madurai Mani Iyer, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, M.S. Subbulakshmi and Maharajapuram Santhanam, among others. His tryst with the international music platform came in the early 1970s when he joined Shakti to play along with John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain.

Hyderabad Arts Festival this season added International Flavour and got French artists to perform at the festivalPanjak Udhas will perofrm with this soulstrirring ghazals as closing program of the festival in June.