Orchestral Collaborations
Overview
Renowned for his riveting and virtuosic performances, Sandeep Das routinely collaborates with major symphony orchestras to perform new World Music compositions, as well as some of the most popular Tabla Concertos of the current repertoire. Das regularly performs with top orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Tacoma, A Far Cry, and more.
The Wijeratne Concerto for Tabla and Orchestra is a daring and innovative composition that bridges the worlds of Western and Indian Classical music, drawing equally on influences from both traditions. Roughly 30 minutes in length, the concerto begins with an fast-paced movement described by Wijeratne as a “quasi-Baroque canon in four parts […] characterized by rapid ‘breakbeat’ rhythms in the percussion” that places the Tabla “in a decidedly non-Indian context”. The work progresses through the second movement to a setting of a lyrical Indian folk song, and concludes with an exciting final movement inspired by virtuosic Tabla compositions and an orchestral take on an Indian nagma which “kaleidoscopically changes colour from start to finish”. A complete score of the concerto, as well as instrumentation and extended program notes, is available on Dinuk Wijeratne’s website: http://www.dinukwijeratne.com/tablaconcerto/
World Music Orchestral Collaborations
Aaj Ki Raat
"Tonight is the Night"
Bridgeport Symphony
Tarang
(Original Composition)
A Far Cry
Blue as the Turquoise Night of Neyshabur
Yo-Yo Ma
Ziporyn Concerto
The following is an excerpt from an article by NPR Music about this piece. The full article is available here.
“In his written introduction to this recording, Ziporyn notes the upsetting circumstances that surrounded the composition of this work, which features tabla player Sandeep Das with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and conductor Gil Rose. In 2008, just after Ziporyn began writing, terrorist attacks in Mumbai, including at VT, shook India and the rest of the world. As his response to those events, the piece's three movements became structured as Before, During and After. But Mumbai isn't a work that catalyzes grief. Instead, it's luminous and dreamlike, unfolding with a glow and a sense of wonder both intimate and soaring. This is music you climb inside as the tabla cuts through the gleaming strings. Ziporyn's way of framing the excellent Das [...] carries a deep satisfaction for lovers of Indian classical music.”