Concerts

India Travelogue: the Whirlwind Begins!

Nov. 2016—Our first two, oops, three! concerts have already taken place since I last wrote—such is the touring life: lots of packing and unpacking, setting up, taking down, travel, EATING (great food!), and trying to fit in some sleep! 

The first concert was at the "Piano Man" Jazz Club in Delhi, which was a totally chic venue with a fantastically warm audience, many of whom were hearing their first-ever live Western classical music concert! We were honored! The Club features not only Jazz, but every kind of music, including Indian Classical music and Western pop music of all kinds. A great openness to all music is the result!

The Club has produced over 380 concerts in just 14 months, IMAGINE THAT! 

Our concert was tremendously well-received, with special kudos to the new trio by Carlos Marecos' which had its premiere. Many in the audience came up afterwards to mention how moved they were by the work, which depicts seven rural villas in Portugal with the special harmonic genius of Marecos setting the scene for each. Thank you, Carlos, for such a magnificent piece!!

Photos: Arjun Sagar Gupta, owner of the Piano Man; a fine collection of recorders; Syrinx : XX colleagues rehearsing; a seriously cool chandelier made of, well, trumpets!!

Today! First Concert in India!

Time is flying and today we'll have our first concert here in Delhi, India, at the Piano Man Jazz Club!  Along with that excitement, we've launched a FaceBook Artist page for Syrinx : XXII where you can follow us, and we'll be premiering the fantastic work written for us by Carlos Marecos, "7 Instantes from Rural Portugal" , Op. 92. Also, there is a great article about another of the works on the program written up in Serenade Magazine, which is an online magazine about Western Classical Music in India—and a very fine and interesting magazine it is!

Yesterday we fit in a bit of proper tourism, visiting Humayun's Tomb in Delhi. This preceeds the Taj Mahal by some 80 years, dating to the 16th century, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the first garden-tomb complex, with various buildings and the central tomb; the Mughal style later culminated in the Taj Mahal, which is some five times larger! Yet the scale and proportions and sheer beauty of the layout at Humayun's Tomb were already a delight, and as it was a holiday, there were many locals as well as tourists enjoying the visit in a leisurely manner.  

A few photos here—I especially liked the coexistence of the very modern "selfie" moment, fine dress of a young man, and the beautiful, centuries-old monument in the background of the first photo! 

 

The international gesture of the moment… 

The international gesture of the moment… 

The sarcophagus in the very center

The sarcophagus in the very center

View of the gardens from the tomb

View of the gardens from the tomb

Happy tourists! 

Happy tourists! 

Amazing INDIA! Syrinx : XXII Tour!

We're almost on our way…to India!! A huge, storied country I've dreamt of visiting for decades! Best of all, I'll be there with my colleagues of Syrinx : XXII, António Carrilho, recorders, and Raj Bhimani, piano, performing in numerous cities and venues in various parts of this enormous country. A life in music occasionally brings these extraordinary rewards, to compensate for the hours of slogging away in a practice room, no?

I've set up a page about the tour on the site, and will be blogging as we go along. So follow us here on this adventure, starting on the 11th of November. For as much as I've heard and read and especially EATEN of Indian culture, I've also heard that it really must be experienced in person, and is one of the most memorable destinations in the world, so bring it on!

Here's the poster for our first performance, in a more casual setting: the Jazz Club (!) of Delhi! Poster and concert presenting by Sardana Creative Consultancy—thank you!!

Syrinx : XXII—photo by Rita Delille

Syrinx : XXII—photo by Rita Delille