Ganesh Anandan
Originally from South India, percussionist, Ganesh Anandan has always been fond in the beauty and strength in South-Indian musical traditions. He dedicated his studies to carnatic music early on in his childhood and subsequently, learned the art of tavil (two-sided drums) and of kanjira (traditional South-Indian drum) from T.N Shashikumar at the prestigious Karnataka College of Percussion of Bangalore.
Ganesh Anandan moved to Canada in 1976 and has since worked as a composer and percussionist. He broadens his musical skills by taking various classes and workshops (piano, tar, bodhrhan, tammurriata) and by studying the underlying theories of oriental music. Acclaimed as a true master of Indian carnatic rhythm, Ganesh is a seasoned explorer who is distinguished from other percussionists. His unique taste for percussion instruments includes a wide collection of drums from small to weave drums.
Awarded numerous scholarships by the Canada Council for the Arts and by the Conseil des arts and des lettres du Quebec, Ganesh Anandan has participated over the years in numerous multi-disciplinary projects alongside artists and music ensembles of all variations. Among others, he performed with Carlo Rizzo (Italy), Amit Heri (India), Ensemble Moderne (Germany), Oregon (United States), Omar Sosa quintet (Cuba, United States) and the Nef (Canada).
Ganesh is both the founder of Fingerworks, a team of three percussionists performing with hands and fingers, as well as the co-founder of the group We5 and duo GaPa, in which he collaborates with Patrick Graham to explores new techniques in finger-drumming . He aspires to build a new platform on which modern and traditional music merge, hoping that the "New may blend with the Old and the Old may reveal through the New".
Press Review
« Avec ses doigts et ses mains, Anandan crée l'orchestre »
« Sa musique d'étincelles, le maestro l'exécute avec des tambourines de toutes les traditions, y compris celle qui sort de son imaginaire. Entre musique du monde et musique actuelle, douces rêveries et frappes puissantes, le compositeur improvisateur explore les variations de rytmes et de résonances, pénètre dans les silences, varie les volumes et s'amuse volontiers avec les glissandos au les frottements de tout acabit »
- Ici, 2004
« Pour Ganesh Anandan, tout est matière à expérimentation et à transposition des concepts rythmiques du sur de l'Inde sur les tambourines et toutes sortes de surfaces »
- Ici, 2005
« Le percussionniste Ganesh Anandan éternel explorateur atypique, nous surpendra toujours avec ses tambourins et ses rythmes carnatiques de l'Inde du Sud. Associé au guitariste Alex Cattaneo (...) il fait graviter en quintette dans un univers acoustique singulier, des atmosphères de blues, de rock et de folk autour du vocabulaire indien, à moins que ce ne soit l'inverse (...) Le parcours est surprenant, libre, parfois flou mais invitant »
- Ici, 2005
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