“I would find life very depressing if I could not listen to Beethoven, Bach and Mozart,” said Gavin Reid, the Director of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBCSSO), which is in India for a three-city tour. Done with their performance in Chennai last week, the Orchestra is now all set to perform in Delhi and Mumbai on April 2 and 6, respectively. The event organised by Seher in collaboration with the British Council and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is directed by the Scottish composer James McMillan accompanied by the young violinist Nicola Benedetti. The event is part of the cultural exchange between Scotland and India in the run-up to 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Classical music is often seen as a passion far removed from young people, who seem to be more attracted by the simple and catchy melodies of pop music. The BBCSSO, in order to keep the young people interested in classical music is carrying on several educational projects. The objective is to also attract adults who had some musical training in their youth but could not pursue it due to unavoidable reasons. This will be done without scaring them with hard trainings and frenetic work but by teaching them to feel the music and let themselves go with it.
Along with BBCSSO there will be Paul Rissman, anawarded composer and presenter, who specialisesin music education for children. Some interactive workshops for school children between 7 and 12 years will also be held to identify and invite young Indian classical musicians to the United Kingdom as part of Commonwealth Games celebrations.
Asked if there is a particular piece that, among others, can lead to understanding the beauty of classical music, Reid said that he would recommend all the pieces created by geniuses like Beethoven and Mozart
.
