© NCPA Mumbai

10th anniversary season of the Symphony Orchestra of India

The Autumn 2016 Season will feature major works from the orchestral canon by Mahler, Holst, Elgar, Brahms, and Paganini, amongst others

12th September – 30th September, 2016 | Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, NCPA

India’s first and only professional orchestra celebrates a successful run of 10 years

Music Director Marat Bisengaliev and Associate Music Director Zane Dalal jointly conduct a special anniversary gala concert

World-renowned British conductor Martyn Brabbins to make his first appearance in India

12-year-old piano prodigy Sanzharali Kopbayev perfoms Grieg’s piano concerto

The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, will mark the 10th anniversary of the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) – India’s first and only professional orchestra from September 12 – 30, 2016. Founded in 2006, by NCPA Chairman Khushroo N. Suntook, and internationally-renowned violin virtuoso Marat Bisengaliev, who serves as the Orchestra’s Music Director, the SOI has grown to become an internationally-acclaimed ensemble.

© NCPA Mumbai
© NCPA Mumbai

In the decade since its founding, the SOI has accomplished several significant milestones. The Orchestra has performed with world-renowned conductors and soloists, including Charles Dutoit, Augustin Dumay, Maria João Pires, and Zakir Hussain, amongst several others, and has also presented several fully-staged operas in Mumbai. The true mark of the success enjoyed by any orchestra is not just when accolades pour in, but also when they are invited to perform in internationally, in renowned venues. The SOI has embarked on four international tours. These have seen the SOI perform as part of the Festival of the World’s Symphony Orchestras in Moscow, at the Royal Opera House in Muscat and opening the Abu Dhabi Classics 2015-16 season in the UAE. Most recently, the SOI performed three concerts in Switzerland to great acclaim in the Swiss media.

The SOI is rapidly building a global impression with growing numbers of international supporters that recognize the value and the standard of the SOI as being on par with some of the finest ensembles in the world.

Mr. Khushroo N. Suntook, NCPA Chairman & co-founder of the Symphony Orchestra of India said:

“As we complete a decade, we are very proud of what the SOI has achieved in ten short years. We are delighted to present Mumbai with world-class performances of western classical music, which we are now also taking to other countries. Our educational programmes are a vital part of our mission, as we hope to build a solid foundation for classical music in India. My most sincere gratitude to our Music Director Marat Bisengaliev and to Zane Dalal and the NCPA staff for their tremendous work to bring us to where we are today.”

The SOI’s Autumn 2016 season begins on 12th September with a concert led by British conductor Martyn Brabbins who marks his debut concert in India. A winner of the Leeds Conductors’ Competition, Brabbins has conducted many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and at La Scala in Milan. The programme, which includes Brahms’ first symphony, will also feature the Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 with rising-star Hungarian violinist Kristóf Baráti who is increasingly recognized around the world for the extraordinary quality of his musicianship.

On 17th September, Martyn Brabbins again leads the SOI in a performance featuring The Planets, a seven-movement work by English composer Gustav Holst, with each movement based on one of the planets, musically portraying their astrological character. The suite is one of Holst’s most popular works and is widely performed around the world. Excerpts from Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser will open the programme.

On 22nd September, SOI Associate Music Director Zane Dalal conducts the orchestra in its first performance of Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 1. In Dalal’s words:

“the music of Mahler— advanced for its time—still represents the closest man has come to rendering his raw emotion into written music.”

The programme also includes the overture, Witch’s Ride, and Evening Song from Humperdinck’s opera based on the fairy tale Hansel & Gretel.

On 27th September, SOI Music Director Marat Bisengaliev leads the Orchestra in the famous ‘Enigma’ Variations by Sir Edward Elgar. Marat is a noted Elgar specialist and his recordings of Elgar’s violin works have won wide acclaim and numerous awards. This piece comprises 14 variations on an original theme, each variation being a musical sketch of one of Elgar’s friends.

12-year-old piano prodigy Sanzharali Kopbayev will also join the SOI and Marat to perform Grieg’s piano concerto, one of the most popular pieces in the genre. With this performance, Sanzharali will become the youngest soloist to be featured in an SOI season.

The 10th Anniversary Season of SOI closes with a special gala concert on 30th September jointly conducted by Marat Bisengaliev and Zane Dalal, featuring popular works by Bernstein, Bizet, Johann Strauss Jr., and more.

Program:

Date

Performance

Venue

September 12, 2016 7:00PM

Martyn Brabbins, conductor
Kristóf Baráti, violin
Rossini: Overture to La gazza ladra Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 6 Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68)

Jamshed Bhabha Theatre NCPA

September 17, 2016 7:00PM

Martyn Brabbins, conductor
Wagner: Prelude and Venusberg Music from Tannhäuser Holst: The Planets, Op. 32

September 22, 2016 7:00PM

Zane Dalal, conductor Humperdinck: Excerpts from Hansel and Gretel Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D major

September 27,2016 7.00pm

Marat Bisengaliev, conductor Sanzharali Kopbayev, piano Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre

Grieg: Piano Concerto, Op. 16
Elgar: Variations on an Original Theme (‘Enigma’),

Op. 36

September 30, 2016 7:00PM

10th Anniversary Gala

Marat Bisengaliev, conductor Zane Dalal, conductor Bernstein: Candide Overture

Shostakovich: Festive Overture Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 2

J. Strauss Jr.: Artists’ Life, Blue Danube Waltzes and more