India-based Western classical music orchestra performs in Hungary for the first time
The Indo-European youth orchestra organised a concert at the Danube Palace in Budapest, Hungary on August 18 in front of an extremely enthusiastic audience who treated the Indian group with long applause. The cultural director of the Indian embassy in Hungary Ms Tanuja Shankar graced the concert along with her colleagues.
A16 year old boy, Parth Sarthi of Noida was a part of the concert. He has learnt violin from Delhi School Music and is currently studying in eighth grade of violin music which is conducted by Trinity School, London. He has earlier won accolades for his work for reuniting missing children through aadhaar camps. While volunteering during summer vacation and teaching vulnerable, runaway or other similar children, he organised aadhaar camp for them which helped to reunite 12 of them with their parents. He is the founder of an NGO- Raasta Foundation which has a theme, maths and music. He teaches mathematics to children and also organises music classes so that they get positive diversion and stay away from negative influences such as drugs, smoking etc. He earlier organised a mini concert with eight such orphan children who sang beautiful songs during a carnival in the city.
The orchestra brought together 15 young Indian musicians from different parts of India, US and UK. The event is also known as ‘Voyage to Europe’. The concert was culminated with a gala concert under the baton of Indian composer and conductor, Maestro Michael Makhal. Out of 15 members, 12 young talents have been selected from Noida, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru and two Indian American members from Tallahassee Florida, USA and one Indian Portuguese member from UK. It had six professional Hungarian musicians in all the section of the orchestra.
The orchestra is collaborating with the Hungarian orchestra and institution of its own kind, Danube Symphony Orchestra to organise the concert. This is for the first time any India based western classical music orchestra performed in Hungary and probably for the first time any Indian western classical orchestra performed in Europe, making it a very significant event for the country.
Indian classical music stalwarts have been praised in the western world. Veterans like Pt Ravi Shankar, Ustad Zakhir Hussain and Dr L Subramanium have advanced the friendship between India and the western world through music for decades. The director and conductor of the orchestra, Michael Makhal believed that we should collaborate to associate ourselves with the European classical music culture and traditions through new musical approach. “We couldn’t have taken our first step if the Danube orchestra had not collaborated with us,” said he.