Meet the Maestro
Nikhil Sardana: Could you share your earliest childhood memories related to music? A.R. Rahman: My father was an arranger for various composers and often acted as a versatile assistant to them. Back then, most composers were Carnatic musicians who created the tunes, and my father would arrange the music.
Meet the Maestro
Where did you grow up in England? I grew up in Northamptonshire where I completed my state school education. My initial music education came from choral church singing and the County Youth music system. What was is like to continue your graduate music studies at the Royal Academy of Music
Interviews
Please share your background with us. I was born in the States and spent most of my childhood in Los Angeles. My parents saw that American kids had lots of time after school so they signed me up for baseball and piano, just like the kids next door. One was
Interviews
Please share your background with us. I have always been passionate about music and from a very early age I knew that it was something I wanted to pursue as a career. I started playing the piano at the age of seven, before taking up the guitar at twelve. Music
Interviews
Please share your background. I was born in Nagpur, India and emigrated with my family to Poughkeepsie, New York at the age of three. I did my elementary and secondary schooling in Poughkeepsie. I then attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University for my undergraduate studies,
Meet the Maestro
When did you first visit India? My first visit to India was in 2012. Since then I have been here numerous times for a variety of projects, concerts and masterclasses. My connection with India started in Buenos Aires when I was six years old and studied yoga and meditation as
Meet the Maestro
Why is choral music important? William Byrd said as long ago as 1588 – ‘ Since singing is so good a thing, I wish all men would learn to sing ‘. For men nowadays read everyone! The sheer excitement of making music with one’s own body together with other people, is reason
Features
Please share your background with us. I was born and raised in Adelaide, Australia as second child of five. My parents were both mathematicians who met while doing doctorate studies at Caltech and worked at Flinders University in Adelaide. My father was born and raised in Australia and my mother
Features
What are your thoughts on Western classical music and fusion? I don’t like the Indian and Western comparisons, but the one thing I do like to take note of is that in the West, there is a space created for every genre thereby allowing it to exist on its
Features
What were the highlights of your India tour? It would be very difficult to choose a specific moment as the entire trip was fantastic! I had such a wonderful time returning to Delhi, Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore. Each of the organisations that hosted and presented me were so enthusiastic and
Meet the Maestro
How did you get involved in Western Classical Music? I learnt piano from my mother. Due to the dearth of music teachers, I ended up conducting a school choir for the first time since my mother did not have time to do so. I was just 14 years old. What