19 Facts About Trichy Sankaran

Trichy Sankaran was born on 27 July 1942 and is an Indian percussionist, composer, scholar, and educator.

Trichy Sankaran was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2011.

Trichy Sankaran is the founder of the Tyagaraja Aradhana in Toronto and is a professor of music at York University.

Trichy Sankaran made his debut at the age of 13 in a concert given by the Alathoor Brothers at Nanrudayan Temple in the town of Thiruchirapalli.

For Radha Viswanathan's wedding, Semmangudi presented a concert for which Pazhani Subramania Pillai requested double mridangam and Trichy Shankaran was the second player at the age of 15.

Trichy Sankaran won the All India Radio gold medal in 1955 and the President of India award in 1958.

Trichy Sankaran has made valuable contributions at many scholarly conferences across North America and has published a number of his works in the leading journals of the continent.

Trichy Sankaran is an avid world class clinician, and has performed workshops and clinics internationally.

Trichy Sankaran has collaborated with top ranking drummers and percussionists, such as Steve Smith, Peter Erskine, and Giovanni Hidalgo, among others.

Trichy Sankaran is the founder and artistic director of Kalalayam, an institution dedicated in cultivating the nuances and techniques of the Pudukkottai style of percussive embellishment.

Trichy Sankaran has successfully trained many South Asian and North American students on the mridangam, kanjira, ghatam, tabla, and other Western percussion instruments.

Trichy Sankaran was the pioneer in starting the Thyagaraja Festival in Toronto which has flourished into an annual event hosting a series of concerts featuring top ranked musicians from India, identifying and promoting talented youth in North America and endowing scholarships to students pursuing a career in music.

Trichy Sankaran has performed far and wide at major festivals in India, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and North America.

Trichy Sankaran was nominated as the Professional of the Year by the executive committee of the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Toronto.

Trichy Sankaran has received the prestigious Palghat Mani Iyer Award from the Percussive Arts Centre, Bangalore, the Chowdiah Memorial Award from the Karnataka State, and Sri Pazhani Subramania Pillai Award from the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Trichy Sankaran has held honourable positions at The Glenn Gould Foundation and Canada Council.

Trichy Sankaran has performed in jugalbandhi concerts with Ustad Vilayat Khan, V G Jog, Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shanta Prasad, and Swapan Chaudhuri, to name a few.

Trichy Sankaran has worked in the fields of jazz, electronic music, and free improvisation with the composers David Rosenboom, Richard Teitelbaum, Charlie Haden, Pauline Oliveros, Paul Plimley, Rajesh Mehta the Jazz Orchestra of York University, Anthony Braxton, Dave Brubeck, Glen Velez, Nexus, and World Drums.

Trichy Sankaran's 2nd daughter, Suba Sankaran, is a vocalist and pianist with whom he and wind specialist Ernie Tollar perform as Trichy's Trio.