The Hyderabad Public School hosts a grand musical by the Symphony Orchestra of India at its newly build open-air auditorium as part of its Centenary Celebrations marking conclusion of the Indian Science Fest

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Public School (HPS), one of the most reputed education systems in India, as part of the year long centenary celebrations witnessed a spectacular musical by the Symphony Orchestra of India at its newly build Open Air Theatre marking an end to the 3 day India Science Festival. The 45 member orchestra is India’s only professional symphony orchestra and was established by the National Center for Performing Arts, Mumbai in 2006. The mesmerizing hour long performance, SOI’s first in Hyderabad, was conducted by British conductor Maestro Mikel Toms. Some of the popular melodies included Mozart – Overture of The Magic Flute, Beethoven – Symphony No. 6, Schubert – Symphony No. 5 among others. The orchestra even performed The Hyderabad Public School Song that was composed by former principal Mr. Arnold Brown. The audience comprised of members of The HPS Society, Board of Governors, alumni, staff, parents, students and special invitees.

The evening also saw the release of the centenary celebrations school song video created by 3,800 HPS students and staff by Lord Karan Bilimoria, alumnus of HPS and Member of Parliament of UK, virtually. The school also paid a heartfelt tribute to Mr. Dennis Powell, former music teacher who recently passed away.

Speaking on the occasion of the SOI’s performance Mr. Gusti J Noria – The President HPS Society said, “I strongly believe that school education is best enhanced by a robust co-curricular routine, and what better way than to have India’s premier professional orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of India perform as part of the centenary celebrations at the newly-built Open Air Theatre, which is a part of many new infrastructural developments for the school. I am sure the enchanting performance has really given the students & audience the will to learn and promote classical music”.

Dr. Madhav Dev Saraswat, Principal further added, “It is a proud moment to see through the successful completion of the India Science Festival at The Hyderabad Public School which attracted august participation from students and enthusiast. The interesting fireside chats, panel discussions and various exhibits proved that Indian students are at the forefront of innovation. Having the Symphony Orchestra of India perform today as part of the year long centenary celebrations was exhilarating and I thank the members of SOI & NCPA for coming to Hyderabad and putting up such a great show.”

Glimpses of the Day 2 of The Indian Science Fest

The closing day of the science fest showcased a tandem of events from Talks to Fireside Chats to Panel Discussion. A panel discussion on what India’s science ambition should be took off with Mr. Varun Agarwal (FAST India), Ms. Deepanwita Chattopadhay (IKP Knowledge Part), Dr. K. Vijay Raghavan (NCBS Bangalore) and Mr. Thomas Barlow (Barlow Advisory Group). Other panelists namely. Ms. Subra Priyadarsini (Nature India), Mr. Anurag Aggarwal (Ashoka University), Mr. Subhash Lingareddy (MapMyGenome), Ms. Debjyoti Chakravarty (CSIR-IGIB), New Delhi) discussed on ‘Gene Editing – Playing God or Saving the Planet’. A few other topics for other notable panelists included ‘The Bollywood Spotlight on Scientists’, ‘Future of AI: Big Models or Smart Models’, ‘India, where are your books on science?’, ‘Living in the Metaverse’, and ‘Space Startups galore: Can they help India realize its space dreams?” as the panelists shared their erudite thoughts.

The Fireside Chats had conversations going between NASA engineer Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya (Astrohub, USA) and Ms. Sandhya Ramesh (The Print) while yet another segment was held between Ms. Siuli Mitra (CMC Vellore) with Mr. Arjun Srivathsa (NCBS, India) and Mr. Rohan Chakravarty (Green Humour, India) had a discussion on ‘Art and Humour to the (wildlife) rescue. Mr. Thomas Barlow (Barlow Advisory Group, Australia) had a fireside chat with Ms. Anjana Seshadri (FAST India).

Thought-provoking talks were delivered by Ms. Jyotsana Dhawan, CSIR-CCMB on ‘The Secret Lives of STEM Cells, Mr. Udayan Ganguly from IIT Bombay on ‘Size doesn’t matter: How nanomaterials are shaping our future’, Dr. Manjari Tripathi, AIIMS New Delhi on ‘Brain in Seizures: Decoding Epilepsy’. An interesting talk by Mr. Lewis Hou, Science Ceilidh, Scotland on ‘Supporting science engagement through traditional arts which was followed by a special violin performance.

There was a beautiful film screening on ‘The Astronaut and the Parrot’ followed by yet another fireside chat between Ms. Arati Kadav (filmmaker) and Mr. Ali Fazal (actor). An interesting ISF Booth Talk showcased ‘Genetically Modified Democracy’ by Ms. Sayantan Datta (Krea University) and Mr. Aniket Agha (Author, Ashoka University). The event closed by a Prize Distribution and a fusion storytelling and soulful music by the MaaHaa project.

About The Symphony Orchestra of India

The Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) is India’s first and only professional orchestra, based at the National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai. It was founded in 2006 by NCPA Chairman Khusroo N. Suntook and internationally renowned violin virtuoso Marat Bisengaliev, who serves as the Orchestra’s Music Director. The Orchestra also places emphasis on education and has an initiative, the SOI Music Academy, which aims to develop the music potential of young people in India.

International tours have seen the SOI perform in the Hall of Columns, Moscow; the Royal Opera House, Muscat; and the Emirates Palace Auditorium, Abu Dhabi, to open the 2015-16 Abu Dhabi Classics season. In January 2016, the SOI presented three sold-out concerts in Switzerland—at the Tonhalle, Zurich; Victoria Hall, Geneva; and the Tonhalle, St. Gallen—on invitation from the Migros Kulturprozent Classics series. Le Temps hailed “the commitment, the enthusiasm, and the discipline of this ensemble, which played with ferocious energy and appetite.” In February 2019, the SOI embarked on a six-concert tour to the United Kingdom, performing to delighted audiences in prestigious venues in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Guildford, and Edinburgh, and garnering rave reviews.

The SOI has worked with such renowned conductors as Carlo Rizzi, Martyn Brabbins, Charles Dutoit, Yuri Simonov, Jacek Kaspszyk, Lior Shambadal, Rafael Payare, Richard Farnes, Laurent Petitgirard, Alpesh Chauhan, Duncan Ward, Karl Jenkins, Mischa Damev, Evgeny Bushkov, Alexander Lazarev, Christoph Poppen, and more. Soloists appearing with the SOI have included Maria João Pires, Augustin Dumay, Simon O’Neill, Cédric Tiberghien, Alina Ibragimova, Stephen Hough, Stephen Kovacevich, Barry Douglas, Benjamin Grosvenor, Pavel Kolesnikov, Angel Blue, Zakir Hussain, Béla Fleck, Tamás Vásáry, and Lena Neudauer, amongst others.

 

Members of SOI at The Hyderabad Public School Centenary Celebrations:

 

Violin I – Iilia Diakov, Gulzara Shakir, Prayash Biswakarma, Zeinep Suleimenova, Averell DeSouza, Meruyert Tursunbekova

 

Violin II – Olga Lyapina, Prabhat Kishore, Deon D’Souza, Kalyanee Mujumdar, Biju Salin, Arnav Lalsare, Augusta Tsuskman

 

Viola – Mikhail Bulgakov, Osman Yarullin, Aliaksandra Patsiomina, Mark Antonio Nunes, Francis Mendes, Gaurangi Aalambayan

 

Cello – Aleksej Afanasiev, Yulia Gallyamova, Margarita Gapparova, Leo Velho, Johann Arthur

 

Double Bass – Bakir Utepbergenov, Joshua Rodrigues; Flute – Aruzhan Bisengalieva

 

Oboe – Olzhas Tustikbay; Clarinet – Ruslan Galilov; Bassoon – Shakhnur Marsali

 

French Horn – Arseniy Kostenko; Trumpet – Adil Ukibayev; Saxophone – Alexey Yurushkin

 

Percussion – Igor Avdeev; Piano – Assel Dautpayeva; Conductor – Mikel Toms

 

SOI Management – Xerxes F. Unvala, Onay Zhumabayeva, Maneck J. Billimoria, Richard Nowell, Ishaan Krishna, Constancio D’Souoza, Sakharam Gawde, Ramesh Kunder, Nikhil Sardana