East and West harmonise at the LPO Renga India tour. Now is your chance to book tickets for the Mumbai leg of the groundbreaking concerts
East and West harmonise at the LPO Renga India tour. Now is your chance to book tickets for the Mumbai leg of the groundbreaking concerts
In 2009, Scott Stroman from the London Philharmonic Orchestra's (LPO) Renga Ensemble invited KCP4 over to London for a collaboration.
Vocalist Ramamani, percussionist TAS Mani, percussionist Ramesh Shotham and pianist Mike Herting make up KCP4, "or Karnatic College of Percussion Quartet, if you will," says Stroman.
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Combining classical Indian music with Jazz and Western Classical influences, the musicians explored the different melodies, harmonies and improvisations possible in this unique soundworld.
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This April, LPO's Renga Ensemble and KCP4 will perform these unique pieces in three cities of India, the country of their inspiration.
Mumbai is first in line for the concerts. Says Stroman, who landed in the city yesterday with a group of 10 musicians, "The Renga ensemble was created five years ago by the London Philharmonic Orchestra to collaborate with musicians who come from outside the classical mainstream."
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The name is a perfect fit. Renga is a genre of collaborative Japanese poetry. The essence of Renga is in the idea of 'change.' Basho, the famous master of Renga described this as 'refraining from stepping back.'
Just as Renga poetry thrives on variation and newness, the ensemble finds pleasure in working with Jazz and Folk musicians across the world.
"We try to work on their music rather than bring them into the music of the orchestra.
The idea is for our group to learn their music and to find some way that we can collaborate together," says Stroman, conductor, composer and trombonist, equally at home in Classical, Jazz and World Music.
LPO will also teach Indian kids a thing or two about Western classical music. In a bid to nurture talent in India, composer AR Rahman's alma mater Trinity College, London has partnered with LPO for workshops with schools in each city they perform in.
An ensemble of musicians, led by animateur Lucy Forde, will introduce pupils to different instruments from the string, woodwind and brass sections of the Orchestra.
Children will learn about how composers have used devices like solo passages, harmony, melody and rhythm to such great effect in their music. Do we see wavy-haired little Rahmans on the horizon?
On: April 3, 7 pm at Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point. To book tickets,
call: 22824567/ 66223724 or visit www.bookmyshow.com
Tickets: Rs 300, Rs 200 and Rs 100
LPO Renga ensemble
Renga is the London Philharmonic Orchestra's groundbreaking ensemble for collaboration with musicians from outside the classical mainstream.
Over the past four years they have worked with jazz musicians Kenny Wheeler, Rufus Reid, Tim Garland, Cennet Jonsson, Nikki Iles, Huw Warren, among others.
They have created folk-music projects with singer June Tabor and fiddler/guitarist/singer Chris Wood, projects in Indian music with Ramesh Shotham, Madras Special, Ronan Guilfoyle and Pete Lockett, and worked with Brazilian percussionist Bosco D'Oliveira and David Dolan, a specialist in the tradition of improvisation in Western classical music.
Most recently, Renga collaborated with members of the London Jazz Orchestra to give the first performance of the complete original music from Miles Davis classic album Birth of the Cool in Britain.
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