MUMBAI: Indian band Svara-Kanti led by composer and classical guitarist Simon Thacker, has won the prestigious New Music Scotland award for their album, Trikala. 

On their noteworthy victory, Simon exclaims, "To be recognised by your peers, for having contributed artistically and meaningfully, is a great honour. But what makes me particularly happy about this award is that we were able to draw the focus of Scotland and wider UK arts scene to these incredible performers from Carnatic, Hindustani and Baul traditions (representing India and Bangladesh).”

“The fact that our work has been recognised across the world, especially in our respective countries, is very special and makes me even more excited about what the future holds for Svara-Kanti," he further shares.

Trikala sees Simon Thacker’s Svara-Kanti metamorphose into a community of different line-ups (thirteen performers in all), each of them taking inspiration from four different aspects of the vast musical macrocosm that exists in the Indian subcontinent. The genres are namely Hindustani classical (North), Carnatic classical (South), Punjabi folk (West) and the Bengali mystical folk Baul tradition (India and Bangladesh East). There is also a major solo work with a tangential Tamil inspiration, one of Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore’s best loved melodies re-imagined and a moving transformation of India’s ‘National Song’.

Trikala offers a window into the evolving soul of traditions and the world of one of today’s most expansive music creators. Traversing over two hours and 18, Trikala is a work of rapturous forward momentum and a pivotal moment in the history of Indo-Western collaboration.

We congratulate Svara-Kanti for their winning the global honour.