Milapfest

2012/13 : 10 years and counting…

 

The anniversary celebrations of SAMYO in 2010 were marked by special events, new opportunities and, most importantly, the creation of new projects and opportunities for our young musicians. SAMYO’s 2012-13 10th Anniversary year featured:

• SAMYO Too performance at WORLDSONG, the NYCGB Gala at Royal Albert Hall, London The National Youth Choir of Great Britain invited children’s choirs from around the UK in a performance inspired by this year’s Olympic Games.The massed choirs, comprising over 700 young singers from the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain (NYCGB) and a further 700 even younger singers from children’s choirs across the nation,  performed a unique programme of choral music from around the world.  The programme featured Mike Brewer’s ‘Worldsong’ and the world premier of ‘Magnificat’ a specially commissioned work by acclaimed composer John Tavener.  Samyo Too performed in Worldsong, and also alone, in a new composition “Rain” by Gaurav Mazumdar.
• Invitation to Southbank Centre’s ALCHEMY festival in April CONFLUENCE, a concert production by SAMYO to celebrate world music genres and styles, was presented as part of the Alchemy Festival. During the event, SAMYO performed pieces of music inspired by other styles and musicians, including two specially commissioned pieces of music “Joy” and “Celebration”, performed with the NYJC and NYBBGB.
• SAMYO performance at ANAND UTSAV, at the Beck Theatre, Hayes
• MUSIC INDIA summer retreat at Liverpool, featuring the INDIKA Festival, from 12th August 2012
• A 10th anniversary CD recording, SAMYO’s 2nd album; TEN
  In celebrating our 10 year anniversary, we wanted to look back at how our music had evolved over the years, and look forward to how we might embrace the future. This album remembers two of the great figures of Indian classical music, Lalgudi Jayaraman, and the late Pandit Ravi Shankar, to acknowledge their incredible influence. We have combined the best of North and South Indian Classical music and added influences from western and folk traditions, and demonstrate how some amazing contemporary composers are shaping this new genre. TEN was released at the 10 year anniversary concert – SAMYO10, and is available for purchase now.

• A series of special films by First Take, telling the story of SAMYO and its musiciansFollowing the orchestra and it’s members, this series of films marks the 10 year anniversary and celebrates this milestone with a documentary and individual members stories. See them on the SAMYO blog: search for Faces of SAMYO

• SAMYO10 – the 10th Anniversary concert at Southbank Centre in London In this special anniversary concert, the orchestra traced its decade-long journey exploring its roots in traditional raga music through to it’s more contemporary repertoire, featuring bold themes and experimental cross-genre collaborations.  The programme featured a special guest appearance by the National Youth Jazz Collective, and a brand new arrangement of a Western Classical piece, along with a selection of works by some of India’s most famous contemporary composers – all of which were especially composed and arranged for the orchestra.