Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to play Assamese musician’s compositions in July
New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) Come July 5, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will play a number of compositions of Assamese musician Joi Barua.
On the London-based British symphony orchestra’s playlist are Barua’s pieces that include “ALAN the musical” theme song, “Ode to Alan”, “Teleportation”, “New World Order”, “Synthetic DNA”, and “The Jungle Song”.
The Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra is a standalone piece that has been composed to the music for the story of ALAN the musical, says Barua about this collaboration with surgeon, musician, lyricist and speaker Susan Lim.
“Susan Lim and I met at an INK conference in Singapore, and it was from thereon that we worked on a story she had already conceived. It was about the future of mankind where artificial life is a reality and the crisis of loneliness is being dealt with,” he says.
“We had been working on this story for the past couple of years composing music at Abbey Road Studios, London with other composers and musicians from around the world,” Barua, who has worked as a playback singer, vocal arranger or background singer in a number of films like “Agent Vinod”, “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara”, “Dev D”, “Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.” and “Lage Raho Munna Bhai”, told PTI about his new venture.
Lim was in awe of Barua’s rendition of the song “Rava”, based on Assamese polymath Bishnu Rava, and the way the story was brought to life.
“This was the catalyst and the benchmark for the subsequent epic journey. This was meant to be a musical for Broadway and we were working with that end in mind. During the course of this journey, this amazing thought of having a part of this musical in an orchestral presentation came to mind. This is how the symphonic sessions came about,” Barua says.
“This came to be known as the ‘Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra’. It was recorded by the London Symphonic Orchestra (LSO) at Abbey Road Studios in London, in 2019,” he adds.
Lim says her experience of collaborating with Barua is nothing short of exhilarating, intriguing and copiously rewarding.
“In song writing, Joi’s compositions are out of the ordinary, profound and flavourful. As the creator of musical project ALAN, I turn to Joi when I need songs that run deep, are well researched to deliver my message, and have an ethnic twist that adds mystique to our musical storyboard,” she told PTI.
On the Cadogan Hall, London show of July 5, Barua says, “For any musician, to hear one’s own music in an orchestral fashion is a milestone or an amazing experience. Same for me. I am glad that this journey had roots in an Assamese phenomenon.”
He goes on to add: “That is what I always tell myself. It’s like when we journeyed within, the world outside opened its windows. For me this singular dawning of light has been the most profound. We are distant people from India, Singapore, Great Britain, France, USA working on this story, as I like to call it – ‘The Ark of ALAN’. How amazing is that!”
Barua has worked with three other composers on the original songs – Manu Martin, Matthieu Eymard and Ron Danziger.
“Based on these songs, Manu Martin created and wrote the piece for Orchestra which has turned out to be absolutely magical,” he says.
