"SHANTI - A JOURNEY OF PEACE" CONCERT COMES TO THE BAY AREA FOR THE FIRST TIME

San Francisco, CA, March 30, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​The groundbreaking oratorio concert, "Shanti—A Journey of Peace," will be performed for the first time in the Bay Area to accent the peace and interconnectedness of Western and Eastern cultures. Since its founding 10 years ago, Shanti integrates choral and orchestral harmony with the ancient Raga traditions of India and is accompanied by multi-genre Indian classical and folk dances, western ballet movements, and spectacular imagery.

Shanti is being performed to an anticipated Bay Area audience of about 6,200 people across three performances:  at the Flint Center in Cupertino on April 30; and on May 21 at Interstake Auditorium in Oakland.

"Shanti in Sanskrit and Hindi means peace," said Kalyan Viswanathan, executive vice president of the Dharma Civilization Foundation which hosts the event. "Shanti is a celebration of peace and our essential oneness that transcends linguistic and cultural borders - much needed in today's discordant world. The concert is a creative effort meant to highlight the intentions for peace from the heart, and features the great musical talent of a community."

Kalyan Viswanathan, Executive Vice President of the Dharma Civilization Foundation

Tickets are on sale now at www.dcfshanti.org and at the Flint Center Ticket Office.

The Shanti performance is unique in that the singers, musicians, and dancers all hail from the Bay Area - not traveling performers -- reflecting the efforts of a music community that has been practicing together since forming last August 2015. World-renowned composer Dr. Kanniks Kannikeswaran has been working with the more than 250 singers and dancers to bring this music score to life.

"Shanti in Sanskrit and Hindi means peace," said Kalyan Viswanathan, executive vice president of the Dharma Civilization Foundation which hosts the event. "Shanti is a celebration of peace and our essential oneness that transcends linguistic and cultural borders - much needed in today's discordant world. The concert is a creative effort meant to highlight the intentions for peace from the heart, and features the great musical talent of a community."

Shanti is created by Cincinnati based music composer and educator Dr. Kanniks Kannikeswaran. It is an expansive and collaborative event that explores the meaning of peace through a music score that cuts across cultures and brings ancient chants to life in a contemporary setting. Having wowed audiences for over 10 years, in the U.S. Eastern, Midwestern and Southern regions, Shanti features a cast of 250 features singers and dancers from the Bay Area Indian community, the Santa Clara Chorale, and a chamber orchestra.

About Creator and Artistic Director Dr. Kanniks Kannikeswaran

Kanniks is an award-winning visionary composer, music educator, scholar and a thought-leader whose pioneering work in the area of Indian-American choral music uses the transformative power of music to build diverse communities. This has led to the founding of Indian diaspora choirs in several cities in North America and Europe.  His opening invocation was performed at the historic reception accorded to the Indian Prime Minister at Madison Square Garden, New York.  His magnum opus 'Shanti - A Journey of Peace' has enabled coalitions between academic institutions, Indian communities, and mainstream choruses and professional symphony orchestras around the world. His Raga-based orchestral work has been performed by the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Residentie Orkest (The Hague), and several other ensembles. Kanniks was interviewed on NPR in 2013 and was a featured TEDx speaker and an INK speaker in 2015. He has been teaching Indian Music at the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati as an Adjunct Faculty since 1994. His award-winning research on the Indo colonial music of the 1800s is beginning to have an impact on Indian musical pedagogy.  

To learn more about Kanniks, visit www.kanniks.com.

Rich History

"Shanti - A Journey of Peace" premiered to a capacity audience on May 1, 2004 at the University of Cincinnati's Great Hall and launched the Indo-American choral movement in the U.S.  Shanti has been hailed for its ability to build diverse communities around music. Shanti is the ultimate confluence of peoples and cultures and celebrates the diversity that characterizes a global era through the language of music and dance. The concert features ancient prayers in a concert setting that synthesizes several musical and dance traditions. The Shanti experience also presents some ancient wisdom traditions -- that are also strikingly modern-- that expound on the possibility of living in harmony with the universality of creation, and embracing the splendor of its richness, plurality, and diversity.

For 90-second video: http://www.dcfshanti.org/about-us/

About Dharma Civilization Foundation (DCF)

The Dharma Civilization Foundation is a California-based 501c3 Non-Profit organization.  DCF's mission is to promote philanthropic giving for creating academic and intellectual infrastructure for the systematic study of "Dharma" and its interpretation and application in modern contexts in formal academic settings.

The proceeds from Shanti will go towards supporting M.A. and Ph.D. programs at the Graduate Theological Union at the University of California in Berkeley. These programs explore the question, "Can the Religions of the world be a force for good in the world?" 

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CONTACT:

Shirley Gines, 858.395.0888   

[email protected]