The tour will also witness the UK premiere of Zakir Hussain's Triple Concerto featuring Hussain along with Niladri Kumar on the sitar and Rakesh Chaurasia on the bansuri in London, Birmingham and Edinburgh~
Following the successful Autumn 2023 Season in Mumbai, the country's first and only professional orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI), is proud to announce its forthcoming UK tour commencing on November 29 across seven cities including Coventry, London, Cambridge, Croydon, Bradford, Birmingham and Edinburgh.
The 17-year-old orchestra will be returning to the UK after its well-received maiden tour of the country in 2019. The tour will exhibit the orchestra's calibre in playing complex classical compositions as well as its unique strength in being able to showcase a signature piece, specially commissioned by the orchestra, that represents a meeting of the classical traditions of South Asia and the West.
The SOI, based in Mumbai at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), under its Music Director, Mr. Marat Bisengaliev, celebrated many milestones this year including performing with legendary conductor Zubin Mehta who described it as "a really very fine orchestra that can be compared with a lot of good ensembles all over the world." Shortly after the riveting concerts, the SOI ushered in its Autumn 2023 Season in September which was undoubtedly one of its most ambitious seasons. It featured esteemed conductors Alpesh Chauhan OBE and Richard Farnes, pianist Pavel Kolesnikov and welcomed celebrated cellist, Steven Isserlis, for his India debut. The world premiere of the SOI-commissioned Triple Concerto by Zakir Hussain in September recorded two sold-out shows and received an overwhelming response. The one-of-a-kind season was applauded by the audience in Mumbai and other concertgoers from different parts of the country. The orchestra's UK Tour will be an extension of the SOI Autumn 2023 Season featuring the same artistes and the UK premiere of the Triple Concerto.
Khushroo N. Suntook, Co-founder, Symphony Orchestra of India and Chairman, NCPA, expressed, "The SOI's seventeenth year has been special. The SOI co-founder and Music Director Marat Bisengaliev and I are pleased to witness the orchestra's journey and hope that this is only the beginning. The Autumn 2023 Season was a great success assisted by the excitement around the NCPA's commissioning of a Triple Concerto for the tabla, sitar and bansuri played by the three great maestros— Zakir Hussain, also the composer, Niladri Kumar and Rakesh Chaurasia. We can safely say that it was one of the most successful seasons of the SOI in living memory. The same artistes are now preparing to go to the U.K.
The tour promises to be a remarkable musical celebration and we look forward to presenting it to the audiences in the UK."
