Manoj George
Manoj George is an Indian violinist and a music composer. He performed as the conductor, string arranger, violinist and choral arranger for the album Winds of Samsara, which won the Grammy Award for the Best New Age Album in 2015. He is reported to be the first Indian violinist recognized by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, The Grammys, United States and the first Malayali musician to receive the honour.. One of the best violinists known for his own compositions and noted for introducing contemporary styles on violin amalgamating western music with Indian classical; His experiments in Indian music with different styles of music from different parts of the world like blues, Latin, Indo jazz etc brought him to be one of the famous violinists in India.
Journey of Manoj George's concerts started at the age of 17, and estimated to be performed at more than 3000 around the globe. Manoj George has composed music for Malayalam and Kannada films, documentary films, corporate movies and advertisements. He is an avid humanitarian and philanthropist, donating and raising money for beneficial causes and supporting charities.
Awards and recognitions
Manoj George's original composition - “Saraswati”, which highlights cultural harmony by blending western and Carnatic styles has won Silver medal from in 2019.He scored the background music for a Malayalam film " Kharaaksharangal " which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film in 2001.
He was also the Music Director for the film Urvi which has been nominated by the Los Angeles Film Awards in 2017 and won the best feature film at New York city film awards in 2018.
Represented Kerala & Lakshadweep NCC directorate as the cultural leader at the Republic Day Camp Held in New Delhi in 1990. He was awarded a scholarship from the Ministry of Human Resource and Culture, Govt. of India, New Delhi for the years 1992–1994.
He was honored by Oommen Chandy the ex-Chief Minister of Kerala for his achievements in music on 25 August 2015 in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala.
He is the first Indian violinist to serve as the Brand Ambassador for Roland Corporation Japan, and Cantini Electric violin, Italy.
Performances
Manoj George has performed widely in India and across the World with various groups, musicians and at numerous prestigious events.Manoj George has composed “Burning Love” for Pope Francis for his 83rd birthday celebration at HongKong and Macau on 13th and 15th of Dec 2019. The music track was accompanied by a chamber orchestra from Vienna conducted by Francois-Pierre Descamps and the soprano by the famous German singer Barbara Kajetanowicz along with his solo violin. Manoj George composed this music in Raga Jog combining different styles music from different parts of the world.
His notable concerts include the performance at the Miss World pageant in 2001, opening act for Canadian rock musician, Bryan Adams and representing India at the World Military Games. He represented Kerala and Lakshadweep NCC Directorate as the Cultural Leader at the Republic Day Camp Held in New Delhi in 1990. He is the first Indian violinist to perform in United Nations as part of "Breathe life for healthy people-Healthy planet" for first WHO global conference on Air pollution and Health. He is also part of famous Indian singer Lucky Ali's band and Ricky Kej Live.
Musical style and compositions
Manoj George is skilled in both Indian Classical and Western music. His original compositions merges elements of these different styles and genre. His music always has an Indian soul, and He introduced contemporary styles on violin, introduced a new genre “Contemporary Indian World Fusion”. He is excellent on different genre’s like World fusion, Indian classical, Classical, Indian blues, Indo jazz, Blues, Indian folk music, Folk music. He experiments on violin’s possibilities with other instruments and comes up with great compositions.Philanthropic work
Apart from being a famous violin player and Music director, Manoj George spends time on charity activities, fund raising programs and he is the patron of the charitable organization – a movement to improve the quality life of poor.Manoj has initiated a campaign to recognize independent musicians in India. “He pointed out that the music industry needed a boost. This can be in the form of awards for non-film music, which would be a game-changer. Cinema is the pivot around which majority of musicians revolve. But the fact is that hardly 20 per cent of the musicians, singers included, manage to break into films. The rest of them simply survive without recognition for their talent and hard work.” Manoj wants to change this imbalance, albeit gradually. Internationally the scene is so different. “Michael Jackson, Brian Adams and Shakira became stars through parallel music and not by singing in films. Even in India, there was a time when independent musicians such as Daler Mehndi, Alisha Chinai and Lucky Ali, and their albums were so popular.
Manoj’s mission is to “Change Lives through Music” as well as to make and perform music for those who rarely find their way to concerts, like a performance he had done on Bangalore jail. He recognizes that such performances are very inspiring. The happiness and joy from the audience is a different”.
Early life
Manoj George was born in Olarikkara, in Thrissur District of the south Indian state of Kerala. Post his graduation, he moved out to Bangalore to pursue a career as a Music composer, Live performer and a Violinist. Manoj George is a Licentiate performer in Violin from the Trinity College London.Manoj first picked up the violin when he was 13. During his childhood days, he always used to get fascinated by a melodious sound coming from his church Choir. Later realized that the beautiful sound was coming from Violin, the eagerness towards that sound always made him sit next to the church choir, violin player and watch the violinist play. The mesmerizing sound haunted him all the time and that got developed into a wish that he should learn that instrument. As a child, he used to sing quite well and participated in all competitions. His father was the first to notice his interests in music and asked him if he is interested to learn any instruments, and that realization reached to Leslie Peter, started learning Violin from his Guru, Kerala's’s famed tutor Sri. Leslie Peter in Kalasadan, Thrissur.
While he was doing his bachelor's degree, he was awarded scholarship from the Ministry of Human Resources and Culture, Govt. of India, New Delhi and this triggered him to realize his passion for music and the violin. And wanted to pursue this passion seriously and hence moved out from academic studies. This was a very tough decision as it was very unusual, rare and not accepted among the crowd. Post completion of his graduation at St. Aloysius college in Thrissur, Fr. Thomas Chakkalamattath, director of Chetana Music Academy guided him to Pondicherry for further studies in western classical music. Studied in Pondicherry for 3 years till he completed Licentiate certification under the guidance of Sr. Mary Judith. At the same time, he used to travel to Bangalore, Mumbai, and Chennai for master violin classes from luminaries like Philomena Thambuchetty, Galina Heifetz and Arvind Santwan. Manoj has drawn inspiration from renowned musicians like L Subramanyam, stephane Grappelli, Jean Luc Ponty, John Mac, Yanni, Daler Mehndi, Alisha Chinai and the journey of the popular violinist began.
Career
After a few years of learning Violin, his teacher offered him to play for concerts, he was truly excited about this offer, since he was still in his 10th grade. He was the youngest in the popular band of Kerala, Thrissur Kalasadan. This gave him an opportunity to perform with legendary singers like KJ Yesudas, KS Chitra, P Jayachandran etc. This also given him an opportunity to play for studio recording sessions, movies and album at a very young age. Post Completing Licentiate of Trinity College London performer in Violin, Sr. Judith introduced him to Mrs. Sunderlal, Director of Bangalore School of Music, who offered him to teach at Bangalore Music School and as well started performing at the Bangalore Chamber of Orchestra.After collaborating with multiple bands, he established his own the world fusion band “”, production house “NewWave Productions” and the music school “”.
ManojGeorge 4Strings - The world fusion Band
ManojGeorge 4Strings is established in 2009, and performs for numerous occasions for corporate events, music festivals, Public events, and College fests. The band’s captivating, high-energy performances transport audiences back in time as it blends musicianship, creativity and tradition. It is heavily engaging, entertaining, exciting for the audience. The band sprinkles in their own original compositions and other famous compositions that fans of all ages can enjoy. The band has collaborated with several legendary musician’s, chamber orchestra’s from different parts of the world.
Manoj George School of Music
The music school in Bangalore was established in 2009. Manoj George’s passion for music, his interest to share his experience and knowledge to the next generations made him initiate this endeavour. His music academy has three centre’s - Kasavanahalli, and Sarjapur road, Bangalore. Manoj George also finds time in taking music classes in Sarjapur Road center whenever he is in Bangalore.