SOLD OUT Film Screening - Colonial Interlude: The Nottuswara Sahityas of Dikshitar

Thursday, March 9, 2023 from 7–8 p.m.

FREE. Reservations Required

Explore the story of this fascinating encounter between two diverse musical traditions in colonial India when the southern Indian composer Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775–1835) wrote lyrics in Sanskrit to colonial tunes that had arrived on Indian soil with the British East India Company. Written and directed by Cincinnati-based composer and scholar Kanniks Kannikeswaran, this film traces the musical journey of Dikshitar through various sacred sites and explores the contrast between traditional raga-based compositions and the nottuswara sahityas (songs with Sanskrit lyrics written to Western tunes). Featuring footage from temples, festivals, and interviews with folk music performers from the Cincinnati area, the film offers a breathtaking view of eighteenth-century European tunes that traveled across the world and took on varied forms in India and in the United States. The documentary film 'Colonial Interlude' is made possible in part with support from the Ohio Arts Council.

About the Director: 

Kanniks Kannikeswaran, PhD, is an internationally renowned music composer, educator, and scholar who is known for his sustained contribution to music and community for the past 25 years. His recent viral video, Rivers of India, features leading Indian singers and has received critical acclaim. Kanniks is regarded as a pioneer of Indian American Choral music; his far-reaching work in this area has touched the lives of over 3500 performers, inspired the flowering of community choirs in more than 12 U.S. cities, and built new audiences and collaborations. His research and his first-ever recording of the Indo Colonial Music of eighteenth-century composer Muthuswami Dikshitar have received critical acclaim. Kanniks is the recipient of several awards including the Ohio Heritage Fellowship and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Madras.