In the first ever tour of its kind, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is heading on a three-city tour to India during March and April, accompanied by students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, composer James MacMillan and violinist Nicola Benedetti.
The tour, supported by the British Council and designed to celebrate the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games later this year, will include events and concerts in Chennai (Madras), New Delhi and Mumbai, plus workshops with the Chennai-based KM Music Conservatory.
‘This is an element of music making I have dedicated so much time to’, said Benedetti, ‘and I'm thrilled to be joining another organisation equally serious about exposing this music to all parts of a community.’
At the end of last month, the cultural exchange between Scotland and India got underway with a visit to Glasgow by the KM Music Conservatory, along with its founder, the Bollywood composer AR Rahman, best-known to western audiences for this music for the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire. Musicians from the KM Music Conservatory, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the BBC Scottish SO performed some of Rahman’s music as part of Glasgow’s ‘Celtic Connections’ festival.