Stories from of our recital and workshop tour in India
Late 2019, Im having dinner with Martha-Maria Mitu and Lars Fischer and I tell them something that Ive been saying for years, You have to come with me to perform and work with students wideness India. Theres something magical happening there. Having had the privilege of stuff a small part of the originative landscape of India in many variegated forms (as an educator, a student, a performer and facilitator), Ive never stopped to be in awe of the many ways in which creativity manifests itself here.
So 3 years, a ramified scheduling juggle between individuals/institutions, and well-nigh 400 email exchanges later, we were all worldly-wise to come lanugo together (joined moreover by Antonia Thwaites and Chiara Naldi) to India.
KOCHI
Our first stop was Kochi, where we were invited to witness the Kochi Muziris Biennale and rehearse for our concerts. The colors, art and sounds of the municipality virtually New Years and expressly for the biennale were veritably wondrous to experience. Apart from the trappy art and backwaters, we moreover managed to find ourselves in the middle of the Cochin Carnival parade, which was filled with fantastical ornate costumes and nearly 60,000 thousand people in attendance. Definitely not my first rodeo, but the others seemed to be amazed by the sheer numbers of people. The weightier way to wits India, in my opinion.
BANGALORE
We soon left Kerala for Karnataka where we were invited by three wondrous organisations, the Bangalore International Centre (BIC), Christ University and the SaPa Music Institute. Things were going to plan, until we received a undeniability two days surpassing our concert asking if we could possibly do two shows, as the concert was oversubscribed by 500 people!
So we did two when to when shows in the trappy Bangalore International Centre to completely packed audiences, who moreover turned out to be the most wonderful singers when they joined us in the encore! We moreover got to learn well-nigh the wondrous projects and the momentum of organisations such as South Asian Symphony Orchestra led by Nirupama Rao and the Bangalore School of Music (Jagadeesh MR).
The pursuit two days we had the wondrous opportunity to work with theatre and music students at Christ University and SaPa – Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts. It was so inspiring to be with them and discover the many ways in which they beautifully occupy the liminal zone between Indian and Western classical arts.
In the middle of all of this, we were invited for dinner at the Bangalore Club, and the Italian Consul Generals (Alfonso Tagliaferri) residence – who’s definitely got some singing chops himself!
Finally, to top it all off we got invited to magical tour of the Lalbagh Gardens by the wondrous botanist Vijay Thiruvady, slantingly the eminent environmentalist and biologist Kamal Bawa.
This honestly wouldn’t have been possible without the immense support, time and energy put in by truly passionate people such as Prateeti Ballal with the BIC, Jay Rajendra Raythatha and all the incredible professors and teachers at Christ University and SaPa. I couldnt thank them unbearable for their kindness and generosity!
Also, please pay no sustentation to our Oceans Eleven-esque airport picture above.
PUNE
Soon our whirlwind tour unfurled to Pune, where we were welcomed by the storied Poona Music Society.
We quickly found that the Mazda hall is an veritably gorgeous space to perform in and for a western classical musician, provides some of the weightier acoustics in India.
Aside from giving us the some of the coolest flower garlands and stuff the most wonderful hosts – Jehangir and Binaifer moreover let us try out their 100 year old Steinway and you can see the joy in Marthas squatter below!
MUMBAI
Mumbai was to be our final and most would-be concert of the tour. Asad Lalljee (Curator for Mumbai Opera House) had come up with the sunny idea of having our recital as a part of the Mumbai Art Gallery Weekend and for us to interreact with the wonderful sculptor Raj Shahani. This collaboration required a 3D volatility of Rajs sculptures that were then stuff projected onto soft-hued clothlike materials, all of which would then be synchronized with our live performance.
During the two days leading upto the concert, we were very graciously invited by the Swiss Consul General (Martin Maier) for dinner and then took to town to go to the Dadar flower market (just surpassing Sankranti), Bandra and of undertow the Gateway!
From managing to find a wonderful pianist to page turn at the very last minute, to how the colors and animations of the sculptures played beautifully into the stories we were telling through the music – the concert was an wool wham and everyones work paid off! In every concert, we tried to get the audiences involved in the encore, but this time we moreover tried to etch a piece with the audience!
The day without our final concert, Martha-Maria and I spent the unshortened day working with children devising and composing some of the most fantastical music-theatre pieces you would have overly seen. This was in partnership with VAIPA and Avid Learning, and the second batch included children from ‘Apun Ka Club’ and ‘Dharavi Rocks all of whom warmly welcomed us and were unshut to taking a crazy creative journey with us for the day!
Now it wasnt all rainbows and fun, as eagle eyed readers might wonder why Antonia (our soprano colleague), wasnt in any of our Mumbai adventures. This considering her stomach decided unbearable was enough, and she came lanugo with a severe specimen of supplies poisoning. This unfortunately caused her to miss performing with us at the opera house! Shes doing much largest now though and is when in London (but only without spending 5 days at Breach Candy Hospital!). She has promised to come when to Mumbai and stick to only toast surpassing a show.
Concerts like this are unchangingly a team effort, and many trappy people supporting these endeavors – the Swiss Consulate, Royal Opera House of Mumbai, the incredible team at Avid Learning and expressly Asad Lalljee (without whom, this wouldnt have been possible) and Raj Shahani (for sharing his wonderful art with us!)
Looking towards the future, I honestly cant wait to come when and find ways of having meaningful originative relationships with all the sunny institutions and individuals weve met!
