For several weeks, a quirky musician enlivens with his art the streets of Old Havana. We can see him standing by the living statues near the historic center of the capital, sitting in a doorway of the Plaza Vieja, or a stretch of the busy Obispo Street. People stop to listen to his music, watch his amazing instruments … and when they discover that he speaks “funny” Spanish they start asking him questions.
He calls himself Ananda Krishna and the stage name reveals his character and his philosophy of life. Ananda means joy, supreme happiness and it was the name of Buddha’s cousin and one of his main disciples, while Krishna, in Hindu, is one of the many avatars of the god Vishnu, and among its many meanings is the attractive, it is derived from the word karshná (plowing, attract land).
At present this musician, born in Switzerland, lives alternatively in a community of Portugal, where he reaps what he eats and uses solar energy. And to that almost dreamlike world, in these times of postmodernity, is where Ananda Krishna takes us with his songs. He uses his voice and blends the sounds of three instruments: the Hang created in Switzerland in 2000, the result of a scientific investigation with steel and other resonant percussion instruments he carried out worldwide, such as Gong, Gamelan, the Steelpan, the Ghatam, the didgeridoo, which is basically a wooden tube, which sounds to vibrate inside the lips and is used by the aborigines of Australia, and the Shruti-box, made of wood and is used primarily to accompany various Hindu classical instruments.
Showing his art on the streets, he has traveled to some 15 countries, and for the second time in less than a year he is visiting Cuba, where he will stay until the end of February. The rationale for this new journey, he confesses to OnCuba magazine, is the music and culture of the island "Cuba is changing and the positive influences of the world also can come here. I love sharing with people, is a very quiet land, you see children playing in the streets, you can walk very late at night, "he explains.
Krishna’s objectives are learning to play the Cuban tres. Also, perhaps because of his walks through Old Havana, two major directors who have their headquarters in this city have invited him to work with them. Zenaida Romeu and herr Camerata and Isabel Bustos with Danza Teatro Retazos. For this musician it is recognition of his work and a unique opportunity.
But he says his greatest satisfaction lies in the reactions of people on the street. "They are very open about this more contemplative music that calls for meditation and energizes. I want to inspire people’s spirituality, which connect to the inside, because that is a gift of life we have and we rarely realize it, "he says.
