There are concerts galore in Bangalore of the Western classical variety, but never before a truly Indian symphony orchestra has performed in the City. Come September 9, The Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) will be performing in the City. Unlike other Asian tigers like Japan, Korea, Malaysia and China, the country did not have even one completely professional symphony orchestra. But now this is a thing of the past with the rise of the SOI.

Khushroo Suntook, the vice-chairman of the National Centre for the Performing Arts and creator of the Symphony Orchestra of India, who visited the City recently spoke to Metrolife about SOI:

When was SOI formed?
The Symphony Orchestra of India was established a year ago in Mumbai and is housed at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. They have performed at 15 concerts, all in Mumbai. It is now into its third Concert Season the distinguished violinist and conductor, Marat Bisengaliev. 

Wasn’t there any attempt to form a symphony orchestra in India earlier ?
Unfortunately no. There was one orchestra conducted by Nelly Mehta, sister of Zubin Mehta, but it comprised mainly of people who worked in offices.

How many members does SOI comprise and how do you manage them to keep them together?
There are about 75 members in SOI including 14 first violinists, 10 second violinists, eight viola players, nine cellists, six double bassists, nine woodwind instrumentalists (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon), 12 brass and percussion instrumentalists (horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, timpani and percussion). It requires a lot of discipline to keep them together and it is the job of the music director (Marat Bisengaliev).

What is the SOI’s repertoire?
They have performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No 6 in F major Op 68 (Pastoral), Sir Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto in B minor Op 6, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor Op 18, Peter Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5 in E minor Op 64 among others.

To be a truly Indian orchestra, one needs to have largely Indian artistes and original Indian compositions. What about SOI?
SOI consists of players from all over the world (accounting for 80 per cent of the orchestra), but 10 Indian players have been carefully chosen by its music director after extensive auditions. But this is a global phenomenon and true of many international orchestras. The Berlin Symphony Orchestra comprises Japanese, Chinese and Koreans. The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra comprises of more than 90 per cent Germans.