London, Apr 26 (PTI) Music maestro A R Rahman made his debut at the iconic Royal Albert Hall (RAH) in London with a unique collaboration with UK-based artists for the world premiere of an orchestral composition conceived as a message of unison.
Rahman united with RAH associate artists Rushil Ranjan and Abi Sampa to co-compose “Rangreza”, a musical rendition that combines Eastern and Western classical art forms. He was joined on stage by his own Sunshine Orchestra from Chennai, who merged with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for a set of four concerts this weekend.
“What I was imagining with this piece was that in today’s world, can we go past our differences and go into unison” Rahman said in a statement.
“The Royal Albert Hall is a place where history and music converge, and it is an honour to share my work on such a revered stage… To stand in this legendary hall with new beginnings and timeless memories intertwined is truly humbling and inspiring,” he added.
Accompanied by a harmonium, the acclaimed music composer and singer took audiences through a range of his well-known Bollywood classics such as “Jaage Hain” from “Guru” and “Khwaja Mere Khwaja” from “Jodha Akbar” in a first-of-its-kind live orchestral arrangement.
“I hope that our music takes audiences through the same journey that it has taken us, where they can see the links between disparate styles (of music),” said Ranjan, an award-winning London-based composer, arranger and producer.
“Rangreza” was co-commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Toronto’s TO Live and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. British Indian dancer Akash Odedra also took to the stage for some specially choreographed performances including ‘Candles/Soul Escape’, alongside singer Abi Sampa and London Voices choir, conducted by Melvin Tay. Soloists Sarthak Kalyani and Janan Sathiendran injected the Indian classical notes as part of the concert series backed by the Bagri Foundation.
“In this divided world, it is a complete joy to bring people and cultures together in a spirit of friendship,” James Ainscough, CEO of Royal Albert Hall, said.
Matt Todd, RAH director of programming, added, “One of the things we wanted to do was to invite the Sunshine Orchestra to come and perform from India… set up by AR’s Foundation, intended to give Indian musicians an opportunity to perform and play together, who may not otherwise get a chance.
“Their story is really at the heart of these concerts. It’s about opportunity, it’s about transcendence and it’s about a meeting of the Eastern and Western cultures.” PTI
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)
Comments are closed.