From doing a degree in engineering to performing in Berlin with a 100 piece orchestra as part of AR Rahman’s tour, Sandeep Gurrapadi, an Indian-American operatic tenor, has seen it all. From a very young age, Sandeep had an inclination towards Indian and Western classical music, but as he grew older, performing arts caught his attention. The singer comes to the city for From Monteverdi to Sondheim, a concert by five musicians representing six countries. The gig promises to take the audience through European music from the 1500s to the 21st century. Ahead of his performance, Sandeep tells us what we can expect from the concert.
“Between the five performers (Martha-Maria Mitu, Lars Fischer, Antonia Thwaites, Chiara Naldi and Sandeep Gurrapadi), we represent Switzerland, Italy, Romania, America, the UK and India. We all bring our artistic values to music when we perform and during the performance, you will hear us sing in German, French, English and Italian,” shares Sandeep. The musical event will have famous Western classical pieces that cover a period of 500 years of musical history.
The program will include works of legendary artistes like Mozart and Beethoven, and Sandeep shares that even though the Indian audience are aware of these musicians, there aren’t many live examples of what their music felt and sounded like. Elaborating on the same, he adds, “Curating this program was a challenging process. Initially, we were leaning towards a more obscure repertoire. But it would have only catered to an audience that was actively seeking out that sort of music. So, we eventually found middle ground by having a mix of more widely appealing pieces, along with some overlooked 20th and 21st century composers.”
Sandeep has performed in multiple countries and according to him, the option to discover new avenues in music is what sets India apart from the rest. “ When I am in the west, there is a much clearer sense of artistic growth that I have. But due to the type of devising and performing arts I pursue, it becomes a niche within India and inadvertently someone in my position becomes a focal point for sharing knowledge - either through teaching or performing,” he expresses.
“I will be performing all across the UK in various opera productions and recitals all throughout the year. I am also facilitating theatre and music workshops in Genoa, Italy. Recently, I was invited to be an 'artiste in residence' with the prestigious BrittenPears foundation in the UK. There I discovered music that was at the crossroads of cultures from Syria, Jerusalem and Greece all from pre-Islamic times. So I can't wait to dive deeper into that as well,” he says signing off.
Entry free. January 5, 7 pm. At Bangalore International Centre, Domlur
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