The Yale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard415 Orchestra mesmerises the audience with their performance in the capital recently. Choral conductor David Hill gets candid about how music can help bridge the cultural and political gap. By Team Viva
Celebrated 17th-Century composers, rare 18th-Century instruments and accomplished 21st-Century musicians. All these fused in the Bahai House of Worship, for a series of concerts by The Yale’s Schola Cantorum and Juilliard415, brought to India by Classical Movements. The performance was conducted by David Hill, choral conductor and organist. One of the works he conducted for the performance was by Indian-American Reena Esmail, a graduate of both Yale and Juilliard, which incorporated both Western classical and Hindustani classical idioms. Was David familiar with the Indian classical tradition and given that it is so different from the Western idiom, how does he think these work togetherIJ He says, “Music has its own language. Reena Esmail has been specially commissioned to compose this unique piece which contained elements of Sufism. This is the first time that we are using period instruments with Sitar and Tabla. This is known as fusion of the eastern and the western traditions.”
While the group was researching about the Indian traditions for their performance, Hill says that they realised that a unique synergy can be built between eastern and western traditions. “This synergy came up with a composition which spoke the language of harmony. In today’s political and social environment, such cultural innovations are required globally and we are trying to achieve that,” he adds.
Hill was three, when he started playing piano and was always inspired by the people around him. “My grandparents were musicians and probably my early sense of music developed from them. My parents weren’t musicians but they still appreciated music. I was encouraged to follow my passion. I went to a music school and got formally trained in music. There I was highly inspired by some of my teachers who gave their life and soul to the practice of music. later, I developed the skills of managing musical compositions. I have been influenced by some of the latest classical musicians of the West like Johann Sebastian Bach and ludwig van Beethoven. At the same time, I am extremely keen to learn the ancient Indian cultural traditions because that is where we find the roots of our civilisation,” he says.
Conducted by David Hill, Schola performs hymns from the 16th century to the present day, in both concert settings and choral services around the world. He has been a part of the Yale faculty since 2013, and has had a long career as one of the leading conductors in Europe. The choir regularly partners with Juilliard415, the Juilliard School’s principal period ensemble, for performances around the globe.
Talking about his journey as a conductor, Hill shares, “As a conductor, I learnt to facilitate musicians with different skills and energies to come together and put forward unique and innovative musical compositions. There is a regular communication happening during such compositions which is called osmosis. The musicians learn to share through science, speed and temper.”
Performing for the first time in India, Hill seems very excited by the response they received after the performance. “India is a global reputation in hospitality. I am extremely excited to be here because I read so many reports of India being multi-cultural society. The message of harmony and peace must progress throughout the world and I am happy to say that with India, our journey in this direction was very fruitful. We want this tradition to flourish and take our music to several conflict zones so that our music provides a solution for global peace. Conflict resolution is a key feature of all music and to make the world a conflict-free zone we all need to appreciate diversity. Our music is playing that crucial role to bridge several gaps created by human beings,” says the choral conductor.
In recent times it has become almost fashionable to talk of authentic performances using instruments of a particular period. Does he think that the spirit and sound of the Baroque period can also be conveyed equally effectively through the instruments that are used todayIJ “Traditions have to be merged in the modern context. Every classical musical condition is a product of its historical environment. As practitioners, we re-engineer many of these traditions through modern day innovations to suit them to the contemporary context. Today we are facing a situation where we need to protect harmony and diversity. To do that, we go back to our classical traditions and dealt deep into them to bring to the forefront elements that will fit into the current context. Hence, it is constant journey of discovering, re-discovering, learning and adapting,” Hill explains.