Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra David Murphy is visiting India for the 8th time. What does he love about Indian music, What's On asked in an email chat
Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra David Murphy is visiting India for the 8th time. What does he love about Indian music, What's On asked in an email chat
Your style of music-making contains a unique blend of two legendary mentors, conductor Sir Charles Mackerras and the sitar maestro and composer Pandit Ravi Shankar. Can you describe this blend?u00a0
The result of studying with these two wonderful musicians is an approach to music that combines creativity with scholarship, improvisation with tradition. As Indian music is rarely written down, it is created at the spur of the moment. Conversely, Mozart and Beethoven wrote their music down to its last minute detail. With the conductor Sir Charles Mackerras, I studied the art of deciphering the many musical clues the great composers of Western music left in their manuscripts and I aim in my performances to bring this to life for
contemporary audiences so the music sounds freshly composed.
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You have performed with Shri Pandit Ravi Shankar. How did you meet him? When was the first time you performed with him?
I first met Shri Pandit Ravi Shankar in 2004 when he returned to the UK in late 30s. To celebrate his return, a piece was commissioned and Pandit Ravi Shankar worked for several weeks with a group of Indian and Western musicians. I was asked to notate and conduct the work. The work was
performed with great success at Dartington Hall.
Which other Indian musicians have you performed with in the past?
Apart from Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, I have worked with Anoushka Shankar. The violinist Kala Ramnath and I have worked on a project called The Seasons, which we are repeating in London later this year, and my first serious work in Indian music began with the fine young sarod player Wajahat Khan. I am also looking forward to a concert with Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan later this year.
How does Orchestrating Success Seminars help teamwork and leadership?
We teach groups of business executives how an orchestra manages to perform as a totally unified organisation communicating a powerful message. They demonstrate how the individual members of the orchestra have to really listen and react to each other to enable this to happen.
100 Piper's legends live featuring Amjad Ali Khan and The Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by David Murphy will perform at the Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Pointu00a0 on Sunday February 8, 7 pm onwards.
Call: 22824567
Tickets: Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000
Available at: Crossword, Kemps Corner and Powai; Planet M at Shoppers Stop, Andheri and Bandra Hill Road; and Rhythm House at Kala Ghoda, and at the NCPA Auditorium.
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