An Evening of Carnatic Music at Findhorn, Scotland

Brhad-Kala in association with Kirsten Newell is delighted to invite you all for an enchanting evening of Carnatic Music (Classical Music Tradition from South India) at the Universall Hall in Findhorn Ecovillage. We are honoured to have Vidwan G Ravi Kiran from Chennai touring the UK and presenting the concert supported by UK's emerging artists Akshay Koushik on the Violin and Sriram Shriananda on the Mridangam. Do not miss the opportunity to experince the soulful music within the traquil atmosphere of Findhorn ecovillage.

Date: Monday, 03 November 2025

Time: 5pm

Venue: Universal Hall, The Park, Findhorn, Forres IV36 3TZ

Suggested Donation £12-£15 with option to pay at door.

Programme:

Vidwan G Ravi Kiran - Vocal

Akshay Koushik - Violin

Sriram Shriananda - Mridangam

About the Artists

G Ravi Kiran-Vocal

Vidwan G Ravi Kiran was initiated into Carnatic Music by Vid. Gayatri Kesavan, Vid. Vasanta Ramanujam and Vid. RS Ramakanth. After a four-year break to pursue engineering at BITS, Pilani, he was convinced that Carnatic Music was the love of his live! He was fortunate to learn under Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri RK Srikantan for over a decade. Since 2002, he has been under the tutelage of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri TM Krishna and fortunate to be one of his senior most students.

In the world of Carnatic Music, the kritis of Muttusvami Dikshitar hold a special place in his heart. The intricate lyrics, the sweeping glides, the majestic chowka kala pramanam (slow tempo) – all of it moves him beyond words!!! He has performed over numerous concerts consisting of only Dikshitar’s kritis and have even recorded an exclusive album consisting of Rare Kritis of Dikshitar.

Ravi Kiran has been regularly performing at the prestigious December Music season in Chennai and festivals across India. He has extensively toured Asia and North America performing and conducting workshops.

Apart from a concert career, he also worked in radio for a while. He hosted two shows on Shruti - the 24 hour Carnatic Radio Station on Worldspace Satellite Radio where he expounded various aspects of Carnatic Music such as ragas, melakartas and also talk about the ancient musicians who have dotted the Carnatic landscape.

He strongly feels that a concert must be a passionate musical experience - if the artist on stage is charged with sheer love for what he/she is singing, the listeners would also be drawn into the experience. Innovation is great - but it must be a natural progression backed by ability and passion!!! If an artist doesn’t enjoy every moment of their music, then how do you expect the listeners to enjoy??

Enamored by the rich compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar, I founded a trust dedicated to the popularization and propogation of Dikshitar’s kritis – called – Guruguhaamrta. Under this trust, I have so far organized several exclusive concerts of Muthuswami Dikshitar’s compositions. I have also conducted workshops of Dikshitar Kritis. Guruguhaamrta also organises a regular aradhana for Dikshitar at his Holy Samadhi at Ettayapuram (Tamilnadu).

Akshay Koushik-Violin

Akshay Koushik comes from a family with a rich and deep-rooted musical heritage. His great-grandfather, Vid. Sri Mysore C. Rangaiah, a disciple of Sri Mysore Vasudevacharya, was a distinguished composer who created works in all 72 Melakarta ragas and pioneered several new ragas. Both his grandmother, a trained vocalist, and his mother, a vocalist and veena teacher, nurtured his early interest in music. Growing up in this environment, Akshay was surrounded by music at home and received parallel training from his mother alongside his formal lessons.

He began learning the violin at the age of nine under Vid. Jyothsna Manjunath, and later continued his training with Vid. Moodnur V. Raghuram. For advanced tutelage, he came under the guidance of Vid. Sri H. K. Venkatram, who remains his role model—not only in music, but in life. Inspired by his guru’s example of balancing dual passions in engineering and music, Akshay aspires to follow in his footsteps.

In addition to violin, Akshay has also received vocal training from Vid. Rohini Manjunath, a disciple of Vid. Neela Ramgopal, further enriching his grounding in Carnatic music. He is a recipient of the CCRT Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

Akshay has performed at several prestigious concerts and festivals in India and currently performing in the UK

Sriram Shriananda-Mridangam

Sriram Shriananda learnt the Mridangam under the tutelage of Shri P Kirupakaran and performed his Mridangam arangetram in January 2011 at the age of 13. Following his arangetram, Sriram has accompanied many young artists in the UK at their vocal, Veena and Bharatanatyam arangetrams and participated in a variety of Carnatic concerts. More recently, Sriram has performed at the prestigious Darbar Festival.

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