Music From London

Image: Courtesy of NCPA

If you love Western classical music, and were sighing deeply because you thought concert season was over, perk up! April sees the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Renga ensemble (“a group of highly trained classical musicians from the Orchestra who work with performers and composers from outside the classical mainstream”) are touring India. They will be performing with musicians from the Karnataka College of Percussion; combining Indian classical with jazz and Western classical influences, they will perform a selection of new compositions based on Carnatic traditions. Performances are: April 3, NCPA Tata Theatre, Mumbai; April 5, Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore, April 7, Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi. Friends at NCPA and the British Council tell us that there are also a number of workshops with schools being planned.

And for those who prefer their musical traditions unmixed, the London Symphony Orchestra will also be visiting. They will, alas, only be at the NCPA’s Jamshed Bhabha theatre in Mumbai, playing Bernstein, Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff (April 9)  and Elgar and Berlioz (April 10). Also only in Mumbai, the NCPA’s Arties Chamber Music Festival on March 26 and 27 features Hugues Borsarello (violin), Nicolas Bone (viola), Olivier Patey (clarinet), Emmanuel Christien (piano) and Gauthier Herrmann (cello).