Symphony Orchestra of India to be back for spring edition

Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, conductor Martyn Brabbins and Swiss pianist Andreas Haefliger will perform at the 2019 spring season of the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) here from February 4 to 16.

Spanning over four concerts, the spring season will feature performances of the works of legendary composers including Ludwig van Beethoven, Camille Saint-Saens, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

On February 9 and 10, Martyn Brabbins will conduct the SOI and joint choirs from India and abroad in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony which includes the rousing "Ode to Joy". An internationally-renowned cast of soloists -- Sophie Bevan, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Amar Muchhala, Neal Davies and Haefliger -- will join the Kazakh State Capella, Living Voices Mumbai, and the SOI for the performances.

The season will conclude on February 16 with a performance conducted by SOI Associate Music Director Zane Dalal including Zakir Hussain's Peshkar, a concert for tabla and orchestra commissioned by the SOI, and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade", based on :One Thousand And One Nights" also known as "The Arabian Nights".

Khushroo N. Suntook, NCPA Chairman and Co-Founder of the Symphony Orchestra of India, said: "While we embark in 2019 on the 50th year of the creation of the NCPA, we will also be celebrating a baker's dozen years of the SOI. In many ways it will be a tribute to the support we received from Dr. (Jamshed) Bhabha and for his great love of western classical music and particularly Beethoven."

Following the concerts in Mumbai, the Symphony Orchestra of India will embark on its UK debut tour with a six concerts from February 19-25.

--IANS

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