Background
Erickavu North Sunil was born (on 15 March 1977) to K. Narayana Panicker and V. Saraswathi Amma in Haripad, Kerala, India.
Erickavu North Sunil was born (on 15 March 1977) to K. Narayana Panicker and V. Saraswathi Amma in Haripad, Kerala, India.
He completed schooling from Saint Thomas High School, Karthikappally (near Haripad) in 1992. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from March Ivanios College, Trivandrum in 1997.
He started learning the Mridangam at the age of four. His initial Gurus were Late Krishnappa Bhagavathar and M South Raju. He had his advanced studies in mridangam from the Legendary Maestro Late Professor Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair.
He also received a Master of Computer Applications(Master of Computer Applications) degree from College of Engineering, Trivandrum in 2002.
As a performer, Sunil has accompanied musicians including Padmabhushan T. V. Sankaranarayanan, Padmasri Neyyattinkara Vasudevan, Professor Parassala Ponnammal, Madhurai G South Mony, Professor: Mavelikkara Prabhakara Varma, Professor
Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair, Sankaran Namboothiri, M. Jayachandran, Avaneeswaram South R Vinu, Sriram Gangadharan, Thiruvinkad Jayaraman, Balabhaskar, et cetera for their concerts. He teaches Mridangam online through Skype, and has students in Germany, United States & Middle East.
Sunil had scripted and directed “Nadasanjeevani” – a unique program on Music Therapy, which was telecasted in Asianet Cable Vision (ACV) as 9 episodes in 2006.
Sunil leads the team "Laya Vadya Sudha" - the "Tala Vadya" - Percussion Ensemble - featuring Indian percussion instruments Mridangam, Kanjira, Ghatam, Morsing, and Tabla.
He received the prestigious “Chembai Award” (the award given to outstanding young Mridangam Artist) by Chembai Memorial Trust, Trivandrum in 2006. He was awarded the Junior Research Fellowship by the Department of Culture, Government of India in 2013. He was awarded the Senior Scholarship by the Department of Culture, Government of India in 1996. He won first prize and gold medal in Mridangam at the Inter-university National Youth Festival held at Gulburga, Karnataka, during January 1995. He was the winner in Mridangam at Kerala University Youth Festival for four consecutive years (from 1993 to 1997) representing March Ivanios College, Trivandrum. While at school, he received several prizes. He was nominated as a member in the panel of judges for Mridangam in Kerala State Schools Youth Festival for several years.
