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Martyn Brabbins has been appointed Chief Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of India, starting January 2026. His tenure, coinciding with the orchestra’s twentieth anniversary, guarantees to raise its creative improvement and world presence.
The Symphony Orchestra of India is delighted to announce the appointment of Martyn Brabbins as its Chief Conductor. His tenure is ready to start on 1st January 2026. He’ll conduct 4 programmes every season throughout the SOI’s Spring and Autumn sequence. He will even advise the NCPA on issues of creative technique, orchestra improvement and the selection of visitor conductors, soloists and repertoire. His arrival, timed to coincide with the orchestra’s twentieth anniversary, indicators the SOI’s willpower to construct on its current creative qualities and speed up its improvement. This may run concurrently along with his place as Chief Conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, beginning in Autumn 2025.
“It’s a nice pleasure and privilege for me to tackle this function with the Symphony Orchestra of India,” feedback Brabbins. “We’ve got already constructed a powerful relationship by way of the performances we’ve given collectively in Mumbai and on tour. The members of the orchestra are all the time heat, welcoming and so constructive, and we’ve had some nice musical experiences collectively. There may be such a deep dedication from the administration and the gamers. And it’s fantastic to see how this multinational ensemble is reaching out to native musicians and nurturing the subsequent technology of native-born gamers. India holds such large potential for growing audiences for symphonic music and the musicians to carry out it. I’m delighted to hitch the orchestra at such an thrilling time in its historical past and look ahead to being a part of this splendidly passionate and constructive enterprise.”
Brabbins’s reference to the SOI arose from his friendship with the orchestra’s founding Music Director, Marat Bisengaliev. They met in 1990 when performing within the Kazakh violinist’s dwelling metropolis of Almaty and subsequently labored collectively after Bisengaliev moved to the UK. “Marat invited me to conduct the SOI in its early years, however the one accessible dates all the time clashed with different commitments. After I lastly labored with them for the primary time in 2016, we hit it off. We’ve got labored collectively a number of instances since, together with for the orchestra’s first UK tour 5 years in the past. It is without doubt one of the most cosmopolitan teams of musicians I do know, with gamers from so many countries and components of the globe. This melting pot of expertise, particular person musicianship and concepts may be very wealthy. It implies that, from the conductor’s perspective, it’s important to discover recent methods of drawing all of its components collectively whereas retaining the tradition and id of what’s already a really high quality ensemble.”
Mr. Khushroo N. Suntook appears ahead to the SOI’s improvement below its new Chief Conductor. “It provides us nice pleasure to welcome Martyn Brabbins as Chief Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of India. He has been Music Director of English Nationwide Opera and has helmed a number of orchestras all through his exceptional profession. As well as, he has educated promising college students at venerable conservatories for a profession in conducting. The SOI has labored with Martyn throughout its orchestral seasons in Mumbai and on tour within the UK, and we’re delighted to strengthen this affiliation. Because the SOI prepares to mark the completion of 20 superb years in 2026, we’re sure that Martyn’s steering will pave the way in which for the orchestra to achieve better heights and for the NCPA to proceed to curate world-class orchestral and operatic experiences in India and the world over.”
Brabbins pays tribute to Mr. Suntook, the SOI’s co-founder and indefatigable Chairman of the NCPA. He praises his imaginative and prescient and private drive, attributes which have performed a crucial half within the improvement of the NCPA and the evolution of the SOI. “Khushroo is a exceptional man,” notes the conductor. “His power and dynamism have been essential to growing the orchestra, the NCPA’s thriving SOI Music Academy and Western classical music in India. The component of bringing this artwork type to a brand new, clearly receptive viewers is a part of the joy of this venture for me and for all these concerned with it.”
This piece was initially printed by the Nationwide Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai, within the November 2024 problem of ON Stage – their month-to-month arts journal.
