East meets West: SCO world premiere

In June, the world’s greatest living sarod player, Amjad Ali Khan, takes to the stage with conductor David Murphy, the SCO LAB Music Project and the Orchestra at the St Magnus Festival for the world premiere performance of Samagam.

Amjad Ali Khan’s concerto, Samagam,(meaning ‘confluence’ or ‘coming together’) for sarod, concertante group and chamber orchestra has been realised by David Murphy. Based on ragas for the different seasons of the year, the piece explores the common roots of the music of India and the West. Although the majority of the music has been written down, the performances also involve an element of improvisation from all the soloists.

David Murphy has been researching the notation of Indian music for Western musicians for some time and this new piece of music has been two years in the making. In December 2006 the group got together for a meeting of musical cultures, instrumental styles and improvisation, culminating in the idea of a piece for the whole Orchestra to be performed in the UK and abroad.

The work will be premiered as a string orchestra version at the St Magnus Festival and the City of London Festival in June, with the first full orchestra performances in Glasgow and Edinburgh in November as part of the 2008/09 Season.

-ENDS-             

For further information, photographs or review tickets, please contact Catherine Gauld on 0131 478 8338, or email catherine.gauld@sco.org.uk

 
NOTES TO EDITORS

Samagam Performances

ST MAGNUS FESTIVAL
Kirkwall Pickaquoy Centre
Friday 20 June 2008, 8pm
(String orchestra version)

CITY OF LONDON FESTIVAL
Mansion House, London
Wednesday 25 June 2008
(String orchestra version)

GLASGOW, City Halls
Friday 21 November 2008, 7.30pm
(Full orchestra version)

EDINBURGH, Queen’s Hall
Saturday 22 November 2008, 7.30pm
(Full orchestra version)

Amjad Ali Khan sarod
David Murphy conductor
SCO LAB

Amjad Ali Khan

Newcomers invariably become instant converts to North Indian classical music within hearing a few notes played by sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan. Credited for establishing the sarod as one of the most popular instruments in North Indian music, Amjad Ali Khan can trace his direct musical ancestry over six generations of the legendary Bangash family and back further to Mian Tansen, the famed saint-musician at Emperor Akbar's court. Khan, who recently celebrated his 50th year as a performer, has been heard far beyond India in concerts at throughout Europe, the USA and Japan. He is the recipient of many awards, including the UNESCO award, UNICEF’s National Ambassadorship, The Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum and India’s highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan.

David Murphy

A pupil of Leon Barzin and protégé of Sir Charles Mackerras and Pandit Ravi Shankar, David conducts throughout the world. In addition to his wide ranging Western repertoire which includes Beethoven performances from the original manuscript sources, he is developing performance projects combining Western orchestras with the world’s leading Indian musicians, including Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. These unique musical explorations are creating a new repertoire and indeed a new musical genre. Orchestras involved in this work include the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra; and a project is currently being designed with both the Chicago Civic and Chicago Symphony Orchestras.

Laboratory Music Project of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra

The SCO LAB is an experimental research project involving eight virtuoso musicians from the SCO. It was launched in 2002 to create improvised and devised music away from the traditional concert platform. Each LAB event involves an external musical collaborator, for example a school, a composer or an improvising musician, and culminates in a public performance or recording.

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is internationally recognised for its innovative approach to music-making and programme planning.  Formed in 1974 with a commitment to serve the Scottish community, it is also one of Scotland’s foremost cultural ambassadors.  The Orchestra performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Highlands and Islands, and appears regularly at the Edinburgh, St Magnus and Aldeburgh Festivals and the BBC Proms.  Its busy international touring schedule has recently included Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Spain.