Music Education
Unless a singer has perfect pitch (and a few of you lucky ones do), they’ll appreciate being given a starting pitch from the rehearsal pianist. Often, a pianist’s first instinct is to do exactly that: they play the singer’s first note on the piano, with one finger,
News
Wednesday 1 March, National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai Trailblazing London-based conductor Robert Ames leads the Chamber Orchestra of the Symphony Orchestra of India in a special evening celebrating composer Vanraj Bhatia. Known for writing the scores for the films by Parallel Cinema director Shyam Benegal, Bhatia will be
Interviews
Nikhil Sardana: What is Classical Movements? When did you set up your company? What is the vision and purpose of this organisation and where is it headed? Neeta Helms: Classical Movements is a premier concert touring company that was started officially in the year 1992. We work with very professional
Reviews
Elucidating Wagner’s Rich Myth of Transformation INTRODUCTION It is hard to visit a performance of Parsifal without interpretative clutter getting in the way. It is not drawn primarily from a Christian source, despite being linked to Christian references. Nor is it a “sacred drama”, for Wagner had far more
Music Education
Music exams are criterion-referenced, meaning that marks are awarded according to pre-determined criteria. The advantage of a criterion-referenced exam is that anyone can get a distinction as long as their performance is good enough when matched against the criteria, as opposed to a norm-referenced system, in which only a percentage
Travel Diaries
American Soprano and Assistant Professor of Voice at The University of Alabama, Susan Williams, made her second trip to Kolkata, India to perform a series of concerts with pianist Jennifer Heemstra, founder of Kolkata Classics. On one of my first nights in Kolkata, we were invited to a private residence
Interviews
Nikhil Sardana: What are your earliest memories of being exposed to music? Dr Ahmad Naser Sarmast: I was born in the family of one of the most well-known conductor, songwriter and composer of Afghanistan – Ustad Salim Sarmast. Given the environment within our family, which was most of the time hosting
News
The Monte Music Festival, presented by Fundação Oriente and Cidade de Goa, is back for the 15th year to captivate Western and Eastern music enthusiasts. The Festival will be held from Friday, February 3rd 2017 to Sunday 5th February 2017 at the Chapel of Our Lady of Mount, Old Goa.
News
The East West Music and Dance Encounter is back, bigger and better than before! In February 2017, The Bangalore School of Music will celebrate its 30th Anniversary and the 15th edition of the East-West Music and Dance Encounter (EWMD – 2017). Like all its predecessors, EWMD-2017, too will be a celebration
News
The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is in its 18th year. Held during the second week of February each year, it is one of the largest and most popular multi-cultural festivals in the world, an icon of Mumbai’s heritage and culture. Programs range from Music, Dance, Cinema and Theatre to
Music Education
In an interview with Eleanore Büning for FAZ, star soprano Anna Netrebko said of the teleprompter she used in Dresden to sing Elsa in Lohengrin, “Jetzt verrate ich Ihnen ein Geheimnis: Ich kann keinen deutschen Text memorieren.” (“Now I’ll tell you a secret: I cannot memorize any German text.
Interviews
Kong Pauline Warjri is a pianist, singer, songwriter, arranger, composer and music educator, and the conductor-founder of two choirs – Aroha Choir and the Aroha Children’s Choir. From one of my earliest encounters with her, I recall one of the narrations about what made her connect more deeply with her