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Bringing the deep musical traditions of India to the farthest reaches of the North! Welcome to the homepage of Shankara, a band of Hindustani music crusaders in Finland. Shankara makes music with Finnish ingredients and Finnish musicians, without diluting the feeling of Indian expression, as the band has had most of its schooling in Indian music from the great masters of Hindustani musical tradition. True to the Indian classical way, a lot of the music Shankara produces is improvised, and a lot of the precomposed material is composed by the group, based on the Hindustani raga system. The bulk of Shankara's concert material comprises slowly unfolding meditative ragas. However, the band also ventures into other areas of Indian folk and light music and occasionally fuses Indian music with various musical genres including ambient and traditional Finnish music
as well as other kinds of music. Shankara was formed in the Spring of 2000, and despite its recent emergence has actively toured Finland, performing at both major festivals and cultural events as well as weddings and smaller concerts - click here for our complete schedule. Shankara believes that music is a joy without boundaries and thus has participated in several collaborations with different groups. All members of the group are adept in several types of music, regularly performing folk, pop, African music as well as other styles. Shankara has collaborated with various groups ranging in genre from the ambient techno of Nemesis(Finland) to the ska of Markscheider Kunst(Russia). A very interesting concert evening was broadcast worldwide via the internet with the group participating in the "Two Worlds Unite" event which occured at the Gloria
Culture Arena in Helsinki. The group's activities are not limited only to music making. As Shankara possesses knowhow of Indian music which is unique in Finland, the band also provides tuition and gives lectures. We want to share whatever we have learnt from foreign cultures as understanding the music and culture of another civilization reduces denial and animosity between different peoples in this world. Having been met with enthusiasm from school audiences, we have prepared a series of lectures. In Autumn 2002 Shankara will be enlisted among the performes of Konserttikeskus, so our lectures and concerts will be more convenient and inexpensive to order. Our introductive course on North Indian music, consisting of four lessons, was first given in the department of Music Anthropology at the Tampere University in March 2002 and more lecturing will follow in other Universities.
Shankara wishes to thank George Szkutko for helping us with the english version of the site.
Last updated 2.4.2002
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