In light of President Reif’s March 10th announcement regarding COVID-19, this event has been CANCELED.
EAST/WEST: Presented by MTA and MITHAS
April 24, 2020 / 8:00pm / Kresge Auditorium
Evan Ziporyn, Conductor
Program:
Maurice Ravel, Piano Concerto in G Major
- Featuring piano soloist Venkatesh Sivaraman (2020 Concerto Competition Co-Winner)
Ravi Shankar, Symphony
- Featuring sitar soloist Gaurav Mazumdar
About the Soloists
A Grammy Nominated musician, Gaurav Mazumdar is born to the illustrious Mazumdar family of Allahabad reaching the zenith of his music education with the legendary Pt. Ravi Shankar. His initial Gurus were his father Dulal Mazumdar, Pt. Nandakishore Vishwakarma, cousins Kamala Bose and Jayashree Roy and Uncle J.D. Mazumdar.
An approved artiste of All India Radio and National Television and an empanelled artiste of ICCR (Ministry of External Affairs) for over 2 ó decades, Gaurav as a performer has appeared at premier festivals and venues across the globe, spanning the expanse of Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, and America. This includes Scottish Symphony for BBC 2019, The Chicago Symphony Hall 1997 & 2018, Royal Albert Hall 2002, 2012 & 2017, Belt & Road Festival, China 2017, Kennedy Centre 2007, Bath Festival 2006, Menuhin Festival-Gstaad 2006, Acropolis for Greece Olympics 2004, Netaji Indoor Stadium 2004, Perth Festival 2004, Kijani Festival Kenya 2004, Music Academy Chennai 2000, Vatican 1999 and Tata Theatre Mumbai 1999 amongst others.
His performances include appearances with Pt. Ravi Shankar, Pt. Kishan Maharaj, Philip Glass, The Royal Philharmonic, Britten Sinfonia, Shenzhen Symphony, Slovak Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, Scottish Symphony Orchestra and others.
As a composer, Gaurav has composed music for the Ballet ‘Siddhartha’ – based on the book by Nobel Laureate Hermann Hesse, Ballet ‘Ritu Shringar’, ‘Woman Baring’. Gaurav has also composed music for the Film ‘Shwet’ and was, for a decade, the National Conductor for Britain’s Youth Orchestra, ‘SAMYO’. Gaurav’s albums include, ‘Echoes from India’, ‘In Search of Peace’, 'Neemrana', 'Soul Strings', 'Grammy nominated' - 'East Meets West’, ‘Orion’ (recorded live at the historic concert in the Acropolis in Greece to commemorate the 2004 Olympics), ‘Gaurav Mazumdar’, 'Offerings', ‘Strings in Harmony', ‘Walking Together', ‘Shambala’ (a historic sitaar/violin double concerto), 'Colours from the Rainbow’ (a composition for western orchestra), ‘Hesse’, ‘Afternoon Serenade’ and ‘Shringaar’.
As a teacher and collaborator, Gaurav has extended his knowledge to pupils all across the globe teaching, conducting residencies and lectures in Universities and for other instituitions. Today, Gaurav as a performer, composer, conductor and educator, has earned a unique place as a foremost musician of his generation contributing towards making Music accessible and truly Global, both in appreciation and in understanding.
Venkatesh Sivaraman (Venkat), ’20, has been a student of the piano since the age of three, and currently studies with David Deveau as an Emerson Fellow. He has presented solo repertoire in regional, state, and national piano competitions, and performed in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. At MIT, he has presented three solo recitals, featuring works such as Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit and sonatas by Schubert, Barber, and Kirchner. He has been a member of MIT’s Chamber Music Society for four years, performing piano trios by Shostakovich, Brahms, Dvorak, and Harbison, among others. When time permits, Venkat also enjoys composition and orchestration, and he has written three film score arrangements for the student-run MIT Video Game Orchestra. As co-winner of the MIT Symphony Concerto Competition, Venkat will perform Ravel’s Concerto in G with the orchestra on April 24. He will graduate in May with a degree in computational biology and a minor in music.