News
The first edition of the national singing competition, Voices of India, will take place at the National Centre for Performing Arts (Experimental Theatre) of Mumbai on 28th August 2018 at 1:30 pm (semi-final) and 29th August 2018 at 2:00 pm (finale). The competition benefits from the expertise of
Music Education
Next month, the Symphony Orchestra of India will begin its Autumn 2018 Season with compositions from some of the greatest masters. Sandipan Das breaks down the programme. Prokofiev (1891-1953) Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major (1944) Prokofiev wrote this during the war years and it is his first symphony written
Reviews
London Symphony Orchestra/Simon Rattle Leonard Bernstein: Symphony No. 2 ‘The Age of Anxiety’ Antonin Dvořák: Slavonic Dances op. 72 Leoš Janáček: Sinfonietta Krystian Zimerman, Piano 10 August 2018 Usher Hall, Edinburgh Edinburgh International Festival When I first heard three years ago that Simon Rattle was to take over the
Reviews
Those of us present at Mumbai’s century-old Opera House between 1-3 August were lucky enough to be treated to a really delightful evening. The opera house, built in the early 20th century in Indo-European Neo-Baroque architecture, lay unused for twenty three years from 1993 to 2016. It was formally
Travel Diaries
We were performing the last song for the evening to a packed hall at St. Mary’s Church in Haddington (Scotland). The emotion had built through the concert, and peaked with this particular song. Some swayed gently in their seats, a couple brushed stray tears away, and many had locked
Music Education
Many musicians spend their early years of training – and maybe some of the later years – fighting a cold, hard fact about their practice habits: the slow way is the fast way. Slowness is the magic ingredient that makes the idea of repetition valuable. When a singer or an instrumentalist is
News
Five music lovers (Satish Kamath, Hari Gopinathan, Jelaja Kumari, Mohammed Bashir and Raju Harilal) have come together to start a world-class Academy for Western instruments and Vocal skills development in Trivandrum, India, called Trivandrum Academy for Western Music (TAWM). Their vision is of an Academy that will provide the most
Music Education
Parts 1 and Part 2 covered what, why and how to practise and the final article explores the final stages of examination preparation. When to change the focus of practice Once the initial stages of learning are secure and the musical detail, phrasing, interpretation and speed are stylish, the focus
News
Symphony Orchestra of India marks UK debut in February 2019 with six-concert tour, including Russian romantic showpieces and Zakir Hussain’s Peshkar India’s growing appetite for Western classical music has led many to forecast a coming age of rich cultural exchange and vigorous creative dialogue. The Symphony Orchestra of
Music Education
Among the British Library’s extraordinary collection of materials relating to the history of Indian music in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries lie dozens of European accounts of the nautch—intimate musical parties at which troupes of high-status North Indian courtesans would sing, dance, recite poetry, and match wits
Interviews
Subha Das Mollick’s ‘Calcutta Sonata’ looks at how the piano became an integral part of the cultural fabric of Calcutta. “Nobody remembers when the first piano was disembarked from the ships that docked by the shores of the river [in Calcutta],” declares the narrator early on in Subha Das
News
2018 marked the year when Trinity College London, the international examinations board, reaffirmed its long standing engagement with India. The Trinity Fest, which brought under one umbrella the many examination suites offered, ranging from the oldest – classical music, to contemporary music – Rock & Pop, Drama and Performance, Communication Skills, performance