'Drift into Music': Hyderabad-based IEYO to showcase talent at Grand Budapest Concert

Hyderabad: Come August and a group of talented musicians from India, who are part of the Hyderabad-based Indo-European Youth Orchestra (IEYO) are all set to showcase their talent at the prestigious Grand Budapest Concert, to be held at the Royal Palace of Gödöllő in Hungary.

This will be the third concert in Europe for the Western classical and Intercultural music orchestra IEYO. IEYO is said to be the first Western Classical Chamber or Youth Orchestra from India to perform in Europe before the local audience in 2019 and then again in 2022. Last year, IEYO was invited to perform for the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav Concert at the Amrita Sher-gil Cultural Centre by the Embassy of India in Budapest, Hungary to celebrate the 75th Independence year of India.

Indo-European Youth Orchestra (IEYO) is an ensemble known for its intercultural music performance approach. It presents an interesting blend of a repertoire of programs consisting of famous Western classical pieces as well as Indian folk and raga-based compositions. It performed with young and advanced musicians, which included citizens of India, the USA, Australia, South Korea, the UK, and Hungary.

The ensemble not only performs the greats like Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, and Brahms, but it has a special repertoire that includes raga-based music precisely written for a western classical structured orchestra.

“These concerts provide the young talents a treasure of knowledge, experience, and motivation. We are also inviting a group of Hungarian musicians - youngsters as well as senior professionals to join our orchestra in the concert, to spread friendship and joy through music. The primary goal of the Indo-European Chamber/Youth Orchestra is to bring together talented Indian Western Classical musicians from different parts of the world under one terrain and perform concerts collaborating with Western maestros, students, and performers at prestigious fests and reputed venues in India, Europe and all over the world celebrating friendship through music,” founder-director of music at Indo-European Orchestra, Michael Makhal told NewsMeter.

Other participants from India to perform at the concert include Santoor player Debanshu Sen, a skilled young saxophone player Vihaan Singla from Bengaluru, lead violinist of the Orchestra Srijan Mookherjee, who will play Antonio Vivaldi’s ‘Summer’ from the Four Seasons, violin students from Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai, USA. An arranger-composer from Kolkata Arup Paul, who is known for his western orchestral arrangement of Rabindranath Tagore’s songs, will conduct Tagore’s medley for this concert.

There would also be a Hungarian cellist Lili Tolnai and an advanced violinist Pramit Biswas along with six senior and renowned musicians from Budapest. The guest principal violinist is Maestra Boniszlavszkyné Rudnyickaja Tatyjana. The concert will commence with the orchestral rendition of the National Song of India ‘Vande Mataram.’

Founder (2018) and music director of the Indo-European Chamber Orchestra Michael is also a western classical violinist, conductor, and music composer. He is an associate of London College of Music – the University of West London in Music Literacy (Music Composition). He is also the founder-director of the Autumn International Music Fest, Hyderabad, and the founder-creator of India-Italy Music Collaboration.