Erick Manana

Erick Manana was awarded “la médaille du Commandeur de l'ordre des arts et des lettres” by the Ministry of Culture of Madagascar, his home country, for his life’s musical work when celebrating his 35th stage anniversary at the “Olympia” in Paris in January 2013.

Already in 1981, the singer and guitarist gained the “reconnaissance officielle du Ministère de la Culture malgache” for his work on the oeuvre of the singer and troubadour Razilinah.

Shortly afterwards, he left Madagascar and settled in France and continued his musical career on international stages in various formations, producing a number of recordings. In 1994 he won the “Prix Découvertes RFI”; his solo album “Vakoka” was awarded the “Grand Prix du disque d l’Académie Charles Cros” in 1997. He is founder of the internationally renowned Malagasy group of High Plateaux singers “Feo Gasy,” founding member of the “Madagascar AllStars” and the “Hot Club Madagascar” as well as the group “Lolo sy ny tariny.” Erick Manana has also been a close musical companion to singer Graeme Allwright for almost 20 years. As a composer and exceptionally talented singer and musician, Erick Manana is known for both, his commitment to promoting Madagascar’s traditional musics and his wide musical horizons, a combination that led to many international musical collaborations, including with Irish harpist and singer Anna Tanvir and Brazilian guitarist Celso Machado. His most recent projects are his duo work with German violinist, flutist and singer Jenny Fuhr and their joint project of the “Madagascar Roots Band”.