In its 10th year, the Symphony Orchestra of India
continues to make its mark
Mehroo Kotval
"An orchestra is not a national pastime. It is not in service of a nation or a person – it is time honored music and serves the music first,” affirms Zane Dalal, associate music director of the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) as we lunch at a restaurant at Nariman Point, neighboring the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). SOI, housed at and promoted by the NCPA, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. It gave the city five celebratory concerts with its two resident conductors, music director Marat Bisengaliev and Dalal and one with the British guest conductor Martyn Brabbins.
Zane Dalal conducting the SOI
L to R: Khushroo Suntook, Marat Bisengaliev and Zane Dalal
String students of the Special Music Training Programme of the SOI
Some staff and teachers of the National Centre for the Performing Arts
The only professional orchestra of the city and the country now boasts of two concert seasons a year, as also travel – both national and international. It beckons foreign conductors, soloists and musicians of caliber from all over the world. The orchestra management steadily builds audience rapport whilst making their ear more adaptable to newer and more modern composers. So, since its inception in 2006 today it has infused Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Dmitri Shostakovich, Gustav Holst and Engelbert Humperdinck, widening its scope and deftly scaling its repertoire. Dalal proudly acclaims "the superior sound, a golden sound” compared to what it was eight years ago. He elaborates that they are still "pushing harder” towards greater improvement.
In his article of the 10th anniversary brochure, Bisengaliev says, "Like everything in life, the beginning of the SOI can be put down to good timing and good luck. And good karma, of course.” Dalal elaborates on building levels of associations which need to be maintained to let the orchestra grow. Orchestras rely on their ability to play together as living, organic bodies. The more frequently players come together, the more refined this process of institutional memory becomes. Nurturing an orchestra is like nurturing a bonsai, Dalal feels. "You have to ensure that the limbs grow in the right direction. Prune a bit, shape a bit… (We) keep a close association with musicians whether they come or not (to play each season). The first collaboration is with musicians as it is they who make an orchestra, then our soloists, then the conductors who visit.” The associate music director adds that there is due care taken to integrate guest conductors with the resident group as well. He pointedly states that the conductor does not make a sound – in fact he is the only member on stage who does not! His job, he says, is to make the best music from the talent he has at the end of his baton and conjure them into sounding better than they actually are individually. Co-founder of SOI, Bisengaliev emphasizes that an orchestra "is a big, expensive and difficult project as it comprises of different personalities and high caliber together.”
Dalal is expansive about what he oversees as the head of the SOI. In order to find out how to appeal to the end listener; build a campaign that harps upon the need of an orchestra for a premier city; track the audience – who they are; what audiences like and what would make them come repeatedly; understand the orchestra as a group and build on that is all par for the course.
Khushroo Suntook, chairman of the NCPA notes, "I had fortunately some knowledge of its (orchestra’s) management through my contacts in Europe and particularly the United Kingdom.” Mindful of lack of subsidy from Government or arts councils, low earnings from ticket sales, especially as the halls are small, Suntook decided "to be as lean as possible in arranging visits, with the minimum number of rehearsals, breaks, etc so that costs are controlled.”
The doyen of arts, the late Jamshed Bhabha and Suntook jointly championed the NCPA complex with its five halls of various sizes and facilities. The chairman regrets Bhabha’s demise before he succeeded in putting the arts complex on a sound footing. Bisengaliev terms Bhabha a dreamer and calls the NCPA "a utopian dream that became a reality.”
Both Suntook and Dalal are keen to represent India on the international western musical scene. When SOI was invited by the Migros Kulturprozent Organization from Switzerland, Ustad Zakir Hussain was commissioned to compose and perform a tabla concerto, Peshkar for the SOI. Migros is an institution committed to providing wide access to culture and education. The Peshkar premier was held in Bombay in September 2015 under the baton of Dalal and the orchestra subsequently toured Switzerland. They have also performed works by Indian classical music composer Vanraj Bhatia and Bollywood composer Pyarelal Sharma. Their talent has been showcased in Bangalore, Madras, Poona as well as in Oman and Abu Dhabi.
Most of the six or seven Indian musicians have been in SOI since its inception in 2006. There appears to be a core group of about 25 persons — both Indian and foreign — who have played in every season — making it all harmonious. Aware of the critique of limited Indian players in the orchestra, Dalal tails off with a shrug, "There should not be nay sayers but...” Suntook, Bisengaliev and Dalal dwell upon the quality of musicians and the emphasis is on their attributes not their origin or nationality.
Step by step
Conscious that there is no formal training school or music program which can churn out musicians of international caliber in India, both the conductors make reference to the Special Music Training Programme (SMTP) for young talented musicians between the ages of six and 14. Launched in 2012, the NCPA intends creating "a legacy for the future.” Some SOI players double up as teachers. SMTP teaches group-singing, history of music, music theory and one-to-one tuition in the chosen string or select woodwind or brass instrument of choice.
As Dalal puts it, "If we had been setting up an orchestra in any western country, there would have been tried and tested steps to follow and machinery to rely on. In our Indian context, not only did we have to take our first steps but we had to build them first, before stepping upon them, and build them with machinery that was non-existent… Ten years in the history of an orchestra is the blink of an eye.”
This lack of expertise was further compounded with no official backing or established patronage. In the light of these obstacles, success is that much sweeter, Dalal adds. These are hurdles that two other established classical music groups — The Bombay Chamber Orchestra and the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation also face, over the years of their existence for 50 and 21 years respectively. Donors abound and it is this generosity that keeps the orchestra and the music foundations afloat.
Some conductors who have led the SOI are Augustin Dumay, Charles Dutoit, Johannes Wildner, Christoph Poppen, Tamas Vasary and Evgeny Bushkov amongst others. Pianist Maria Joao Pires, cellist Borislav Strulev and violinist Lena Neudauer are a few of the soloists SOI has presented to the Indian audience. Zoroastrian Iranian baritone Anooshah Golesorkhi termed himself a "fan” of the SOI, after performing the role of Scarpia in the opera Tosca by Giacomo Puccini in Bombay in 2010. He exuberantly awaits SOI’s 20th anniversary, his message proclaims. The SOI has not had the privilege of playing under the baton of the most prominent Zoroastrian musician, maestro Zubin Mehta.
Suntook traces the SOI’s journey with "Frankly I did not believe that in 10 years we would be where we are and this credit has to go to our musicians and supporting team. Financial support and correct programing for Indian audiences, along with our ability to attract world famous artistes, has truly helped us come a long way. If the same rate of progress is maintained (as over the past 10 years), there is no reason to believe that we cannot be in the same elite group as the top international orchestras, or at least the top Asian orchestras, including China, Japan and South Korea. We have (appropriate) spaces, the infrastructure, the knowledge and the will to succeed, so what should hold us back?”