About Us
The Indian Choral Ensemble is a group of talented singers from all over the country who perform compositions with sophisticated melodies & interwoven harmonies in a choral style arrangement that embodies the essence of Indian music. From the bustling city of Chennai, the 40-piece ensemble gracefully presents the captivating grandeur of a large vocal group sound, showcasing both originals and popular song covers. With the expert direction & guidance of the choir directors, Kalyani Nair and Karthik Manickavasakam, they’ve crafted intricate harmonies in 6-8 distinct parts, creating a unique multi-dimensional soundscape that promises a one-of-a-kind experience.
CHOIR DIRECTORS
Kalyani Nair
A ear for good music has been her tutor. Having travelled widely, owing to her defence background, Kalyani got exposed to different musical sensibilities early on, all of which reflect in her style of singing, composing, arranging and scoring works that she has done over the last two decades.
Entering the Chennai music field as a 16 year old singer, Kalyani’s passion for music drew her to the study of western music theory under the tutelage of Augustine Paul. After finishing 8 grades with distinction in theory and vocals from the Trinity School of Music, she started arranging music for and conducting small vocal groups and choirs locally. Soon, her interest towards orchestral writing, brought collaborations with some of the top notch composers down south like Santhosh Narayanan, Sean Roldan, Pradeep Kumar, K, Dhibu Ninan Thomas to name a few. In the last decade, while working for over 20 films, she has had the experience of arranging music for several orchestral ensembles, big and small, all across the globe, Budapest Scoring Inc, Fame’s Macedonian Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Orchestra, The Sunshine Orchestra and many others.
Apart from the mainstream film productions, she has also been passionately involved in projects from the independent scene. She worked as a conductor and orchestral arranger for an independent musical production ‘Poorvaa’, for a documentary named “Arunagiri Perumale” which featured a 16-piece orchestra from Boston. She also worked as a string and vocal arranger for India’s first musical NFT project named “Pann”. Apart from these, she has also scored music for short films.
Since the inception of The Indian Choral Ensemble in 2021, she has been spearheading it as a conductor and composer for the choir.
Karthik Manickavasakam
Karthik has a music diploma specialising in Western Contemporary Music Composition from Middlesex University/KM Music Conservatory, after which he continued to teach Music Composition for a period of 4 years at KM Music Conservatory, Chennai, during which he mentored over 50 music composition students, guiding them with numerous performance showcases, workshops and ensembles. He also has experience of working, conducting with many student chamber groups, choirs, bands and orchestras.
Karthik is currently working as an orchestrator, arranger, and programmer in the Indian film industry. He has experiences of working for notable film composers like Santhosh Narayanan, A R Rahman. During this period, he has experience of writing for/recording/conducting The Sunshine Orchestra, and writing for/recording the FAMES Macedonia Orchestra.
Karthik’s writing is modern sounding and texturally rich. His interests lie in symphonic, acoustic and film music genres. Apart from film works, he is also an independent singer-songwriter and his songs generally are storytellers
CHORISTERS
SOPRANOS
ALTOS
TENORS
BASSES
Extended Family
Apart from showcasing the grandeur of 40 bare voices in acapella style, we also collaborate with eminent musicians for our live shows and independent productions. They are akin to our extended family as their presence in our choir is a glimpse of their invaluable support and dedication they provide us with.
