Zakir Hussain

Zakir Hussain is appreciated today both in the field of percussion and in the music world at large as an international phenomenon. Hussain is considered one of the greatest musicians of our time. Along with his legendary father and teacher, Ustad Allarakha, he has elevated the status of his instrument - the tabla, both in India and around the world. A child prodigy, Hussain began touring at the age of twelve, becoming the most acclaimed Indian musician of his generation and one of the world's leading percussionists. A classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order, his consistently brilliant and exciting performances have not only established him as a national treasure in his own country, but earned him worldwide fame.

Hussain is widely recognized as a chief architect of the world music movement with his many historic collaborations, including Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Shakti, Planet Drum and his ever-changing moveable feast, Tabla Beat Science, He has contributed to innumerable recordings and has received widespread recognition as a composer for his many projects, scores and soundtracks including YoYo Ma's Silk Road Project.

He is the recipient of many honors, including a recent Grammy in the Best Contemporary World Music category for Global Drum Project with Mickey Hart, the 1999 National Heritage Fellowship, the United States' most prestigious honor for a master in traditional arts. In 1992, Planet Drum, an album co-created and co-produced by Hussain, became the first recording to win a Grammy in the Best World Music category.

Symphony Orchestra of Indian

In August 2006, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai formed the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI). The internationally acclaimed Kazakh violinist - Marat Bisengaliev serves as the Music Director. The members are recruited from international field, the core of instrumentalists resides at the NCPA all year round, including Resident Conductor, Zane Dalal.

In June 2010, the SOI became India's first professional orchestra to perform outside of the country. It made its international debut at the Fifth Festival of the World's Symphony Orchestras in Moscow. The SOI played on the concluding night as a part of the Grand Finale, in the presence of the highest echelons of Russian society.

Over the course of twelve seasons, the SOI has presented many great masterworks including Strauss' Don Juan, Stravinsky's Firebird Suite and Beethoven's 9th Symphony, showcasing the virtuosity of the Orchestra. The NCPA and the SOI have also together presented large-scale productions including Karl Jenkins' Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary and Operas such as Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Tosca. In its twelfth celebrity concert season in February 2012, the NCPA presented two Operas back-to-back in the form of the classic duo, Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. It also performed a concert version of Carl Orff's powerful and elemental Carmina Burana in the same season.

Resident Conductor: Zane Dalal

Zane Dalal was born and educated in England. He holds two Masters Degrees in Music from both the University of Oxford, U.K and from Indiana University, at Bloomington.

Dalal was Music Director of the Symphony Orchestra at the University of Oklahoma and Conductor of the University Opera Theater from 1991 to 1993. He has conducted, in rehearsal or performance the Symphonies of Cincinnati, Jerusalem, L'Orchestre des Pays de La Loire and the Florida Philharmonic. Dalal was invited to assist the Dallas Symphony acting as a cover conductor for selected concerts with Maestro Andrew Litton and guest conductors. He also conducted the Chicago Civic Orchestra in a special conductor’s preview, by the invitation of Daniel Barenboïm and conducted the Florida Orchestra during their search for a Resident Conductor. From 2007, Mr. Dalal has been the Resident Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of India at the National Centre Performing Arts in Mumbai.

Dalal has participated in several music festivals and competitions including the international conducting competitions in Besançon and Lugano in 1990 and the first competition named for Leonard Bernstein in 1995, placing as finalists in all three. In 1994 his performance of Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony with the American Youth Symphony, at Royce Hall in Los Angeles, prompted an enthusiastic endorsement from Maestro Zubin Mehta.

"Zane Dalal is an extremely gifted conductor who possesses a good command over the orchestra, as his stick technique is very clear and communicative and his musical ideas substantive and well thought out. I think he is on the verge of embarking on a good career."

—— ZUBIN MEHTA

Violin soloist: Marat Bisengaliev

Born in Kazakhstan, USSR , in 1962 and making a startling debut at the age of nine, Marat Bisengaliev later studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow with two of the legendary names in violin tuition: Boris Belkin and Valery Klimov.

Bisengaliev was a prizewinner in 1988 at the Leipzig International Bach Competition, and in 1991 he won first prize at the International Nicanor Zabaleta Competition in Spain, also receiving the special virtuoso prize for the most outstanding performance of the competition. In 2000, Bisengaliev received the 1st independent "Platinum Tarlan" Award and the Government "Medal of Honour" in Kazakhstan.

In 1989, Bisengaliev founded the Kazakh Chamber Orchestra with whom he toured as a soloist throughout Europe. Bisengaliev’s recording of the Mendelssohn concertos with the Northern Sinfonia became Gramophone Critic's Choice of the year in 1998. Fanfare nominated his recording of the concerto by the British composer Havergal Brian with the BBC Scottish S.O. "Elgar - Re-discovered works for violin - Vol. 1" (Black Box) was nominated for the 1999 "Gramophone Award". The "Elgar - Re-discovered works for violin - Vol. 2" (Black Box) has been released to great critical acclaim and is one of five recordings recently highly recommended by Classic FM. Marat Bisengaliev was awarded a Gold. Disc from Sony BMG for the latest release Tlep premiered in Albert Hall. In 2006, Bisengaliev became Artistic Director of the Symphony Orchestra of India (Mumbai), the first professional full time Symphony Orchestra in India.

"A brilliant violin soloist"

-- The Times

“He has taken to heart a style of playing that wasa hallmark of violin virtuosity early in the century, and is only now coming back into favour after several decades in the shadow of a more drily rational style".

-- The New York Times