Interviews
When did you come up with the idea to tour India with the Australian World Orchestra in October 2015? It was Alexander Briger’s idea who first had a discussion about this with Maestro Zubin Mehta and Nick Deutsch, our Principal Oboe for the Australian World Orchestra. What were the
Music Education
Picture this: you’re walking down the street in London, with your frock coat swishing around you and your hat at an angle. (Of course you’re wearing a frock coat – it’s 1819) You’ve got to play for your supper at the Marlboroughs’ tonight, but that’s not
Music Education
The universal steps to learning a song, I know you’ve all got them down. You can read music, count rhythms, learn language, and tell stories. A lot of the music I work with involves a pianist and singer, and duetting is all about communication. In the process of “learning
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.
Music Education
Especially because I like knowing what I’m playing, but also because I’m a fan of history in general, I wish I knew more about early 20th Century Latin America – and in particular, that I knew more about the first half of Augustin Barrios Mangore’s life. It would
Features
A Conductor should be a many faceted person with a wide artistic and human hinterland. Waving arms around is merely the visible thing people see, and even there, there are no real rules, only some basics. Impeccable technique doesn’t necessarily produce great performances, and less conventional methods can be
Music Education
Most of my childhood was spent hearing about my dad’s travels in the “BIMARU” states in India (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh considered to be the most backward), and my eldest brother’s classical piano playing (today he is a pianist and a music therapist, and my
Music Education
A project that started with me trying to get an amateur college choir a chance to perform with an orchestra turned into a life changing experience. In 2010, while still in college, I set up the Xavier College Chorus to provide a platform for amateur singers. My mission of getting
Music Education
My fascination for the piano came very early and way before my foray into Indian Classical music. In the initial years while I played both Western Classical and Indian film music on the piano, it was the raga based film music that first pulled me towards Hindustani Classical. I also
Music Education
Bollywood beats under the dim lights of a nightclub, sufi tunes serving as soul food at intimate concerts, the unmatched ferocity of Indian classical music and its loyalists – Music means different things to people who reside in a multicultural eclectic India. For some, it’s about celebration. For others, it’
Music Education
The Western music ‘scene’ in Hyderabad, as they call it – is not at all new. Pianists, choirs and ensembles have been around in this city for long and have produced many talented artists. In fact, Jazz was heard frequently as far back as 1935. The Hyderabad Western Music Foundation started
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
