Student to publish research paper on traditional Omani music

17-year-old Santrupth G.R. Vedanthi, a Grade 12 student of ABA School Muscat and a musician who is known for his charitable pursuits, will be publishing his research paper on Omani music.
Speaking of his initiatives, Santrupth said, “music was the right choice for me as I have had the opportunity to hear traditional Omani music from a very young age. Music plays an important role in Oman. Traditional music marks all the stages in the life of an Omani, including birth, marriage and death. In contrast to many Arab countries, most Omanis participate in music, including both men and women. Omani traditional music involves audience of all age groups.”
He said that in Omani music there are different kind of songs for childbirth, marriage, hunting, political activities, music to ward off evil spirits and also to pay respect to good spirits.
“They are associated with a particular dance. Both in African and Omani music some songs are performed by the professional musicians at the Royal Courts. All these facts inspired me to do my extended essay on Omani music with the help of my teachers. I also had a great opportunity to meet Prof. Issam El Malla. Advisor to Board of Directors at ROHM,” he added.
The young musician was first moved to take up the cause of cancer when he saw his schoolmate battle the dreaded disease and he had started crowd funding campaign for Oman Cancer Association. All the money he has earned through the sale of his first album ‘Amogha Milana’ was donated to the cause of cancer awareness in Muscat and for Manonandana, a school for the mentally challenged in Bengaluru.
Santrupth has also donated profits from his performances to the Bangalore Hospice Trust – Karunashraya which provides free professional palliative care for advanced stage cancer patients who are beyond cure. He was also part of the ‘Trinity Live in Concert’ organised in Muscat to raise awareness and funds for the Association of Early Intervention for Children with Disability.
Santrupth recently donated 50 solar lanterns to poor students of a school in Gowdgere, a village located in outskirts of Bengaluru in Karnataka, India. He raised the money for solar lanterns from the sale proceedings of his albums and funds from the numerous concerts he had performed.
Last year, Santrupth donated 50 per cent of his income from concerts and sale proceedings of his album ‘Palasampada’ to help set up a drinking water facility in Gowdgere. Nearly 400 families benefitted from drinking water plant. Before setting of the project, he has supplied 25 litre water bottles for each of families in village to solve the immediate problem of water shortage.
Santrupth was recently presented the ‘Youth Award’ for his contribution to charity through his work in the field of music.
Indramani Pandey, former Ambassador of India to Oman presented the award at an event organised in association with Oman Hockey Association.
He was honoured with the award for being a youngster with a vision and passion to serve the society. He was recognised for enriching the community through music and charity work.
On the music front, Santrupth was selected to attend a one-week long Stanford Jazz Workshop at Stanford. While Santrupth has completed a five-week scholarship programme at the US-based Berklee College of Music (BCM), at 13, he became the youngest student to clear eighth grade in drums from London’s Trinity College of Music. Santrupth, who plays five instruments, has played the drums at India’s renowned composer A R Rahman ‘Jai Ho Muscat’ concert. He has also shared the stage and been mentored by Sivamani, Gino Banks, Bikram Ghosh, Dilip Doshi and Arunkumar, eminent names from the world of percussion. The youngster, who is profoundly committed to multiple causes, wants to carve out a niche for himself in the world of music, academics and continue doing a world of good.