World Premiere of Mahatma Symphony with Dr. L. Subramaniam and Singer Kavita Krishnamurti

HOUSTON – Celebrating 75 years of India’s independence, the Houston Symphony is partnering with the Indo-American Association of Houston to present a special concert featuring Indian violin icon Dr. L. Subramaniam, August 6 at 7:30 p.m in the Hobby Center’s Sarofim Hall. Joined by both the Houston Symphony and an Indian ensemble under the direction of conductor Ankush Kumar Bahl, Dr. Subramaniam shares Indian classical music, performs as soloist in his own Violin Concerto, and unveils the world premiere of his Mahatma Symphony, which was written specially for this historic celebration, and features well known Indian vocalist Kavita Krishnamurti.

In addition to the impressive line-up of musical performances, attendees can also anticipate pre- and post-show activities and experiences in the Hobby Center lobby that celebrate Indian heritage, diversity and independence.

Violinist, composer, and conductor Dr. L. Subramaniam was declared by the Dubai Sunday Times as “the greatest classical Indian violinist of our time.” Mastering the South Indian Carnatic, Western classical, jazz, world fusion and world music traditions, the Madras-born and prodigiously recorded Subramaniam combines elements of Carnatic and Western classical music in his compositions to create something original. He has collaborated with the likes of Yehudi Menuhin, Stéphane Grapelli, Herbie Hancock, Jean-Pierre Rampal, George Harrison, and many others. For the occasion of this concert, Subramaniam has composed a new symphonic work, Mahatma, devoted to the life and works of Mahatma Gandhi, one of the twentieth century’s greatest political and spiritual leaders. Also on the program are Dr. Subramaniam’s Spring Rhapsody for Chamber Orchestra, as well as his Shanti Priya for Violin and Orchestra with the composer performing as soloist.

For tickets and more information, please call 713.224.7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. All programs and artists are subject to change.

About the Houston Symphony

During the 2021–2022 Season, the Houston Symphony celebrated its final season under Andrés Orozco-Estrada after eight years as Music Director and continued its second century as one of America’s leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring, and recording activities. One of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, the Symphony held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston on June 21, 1913. Today, with an operating budget of $28.8 million (FY22), the full-time ensemble of professional musicians presents nearly 170 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Additionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony’s two Community-Embedded Musicians offer over 1,000 community-based performances each year at various schools, community centers, hospitals, and churches reaching more than 200,000 people in Greater Houston annually, prior to COVID-19.

After suspending concert activities in March 2020 and cancelling the remainder of 2019–2020 events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Symphony resumed activities in May 2020, opening the 2020–2021 Season on schedule in September 2020 with small audiences of 150. The Houston Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement team continued to fulfill its mission through creative and virtual means throughout this period, resuming in-person student concerts in January 2022. The Symphony successfully completed a full season with in-person audiences and weekly livestreams of each performance, making it one of the only orchestras in the world to do so. In the 2021–2022 Season, the Symphony was once again able to program concerts that featured a full complement of musicians onstage, with pre-pandemic-sized audiences in attendance.

 

The Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony has recorded under various prestigious labels, including Koch International Classics, Naxos, RCA Red Seal, Telarc, Virgin Classics, and, most recently, Dutch recording label Pentatone. In 2017, the Houston Symphony was awarded an ECHO Klassik award for the live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck under the direction of former Music Director Hans Graf. The orchestra earned its first Grammy nomination and Grammy Award at the 60th annual ceremony for the same recording in the Best Opera Recording category.

About the Indo-American Association

The Indo-American Association (IAA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1993 to promote cultural arts of the Indian subcontinent. Historically, each year IAA has presented a thoughtfully curated season of 8-10 live shows. Each season’s line-up has included a blend of art disciplines of India – music, dance, and theatre.  At the same time, cross-cultural collaborations between artists from India, US and other countries have been showcased over the years. The events are targeted at multi-cultural audiences which have grown with each passing year. IAA today is regarded as a leading cultural arts organization presenting world-class talent in Houston and other North American cities. Over the past three decades, IAA has hosted legends and the “who’s who” of Indian music, dance and theatre to entertain and enthrall captive Houston audiences including Grammy winners Pt. Ravi Shankar, Zakir Hussain and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.