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.
Shortly after he had left for France, in 1994 he won the “Prix Découvertes RFI”. His first solo album “Vakoka” was awarded the “Grand Prix du disque d l’Académie Charles Cros” in 1997.
Now, almost twenty years later, maintaining his humble attitude and fuelled by his intense experience of international musical encounters and ensemble work (e.g. Feo Gasy), Manana embarks on a new solo programme that speaks straight from the heart: his unique guitar picking technique, inspired by the traditional ba-gasy style and tuning, moves between sensitivity and ferocity, savagery and discipline. It thus perfectly fits the impressive range of his vocal capacity.