Symphony Orchestra of India with Piotr Borkowski, conductor and Balázs Fülei, piano
In a programme of Handel: Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 1; J. S. Bach: Concerto BWV 1053 for keyboard and strings; P. Lukaszewski: Sinfonietta; E. Grieg: Holberg suite Op. 40 and F. Liszt: Malediction for Piano and strings
In August 2006, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) formed The Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI), the country’s first professional symphony orchestra, offering a series of concerts in Mumbai over the course of two seasons each year, in September and February. The SOI was founded by the NCPA Chairman, Khushroo N Suntook, and international virtuoso violinist, Marat Bisengaliev, who serves as the orchestra’s Music Director. Players are recruited from an international field, a core of instrumentalists who are resident at the NCPA all year round. Many of the principal players are also teachers, and the orchestra places a great emphasis on developing musical potential within India. In June 2010, the SOI made history as it became India’s first professional orchestra to perform outside of the country. It made its international debut at the Fifth Festival of the World’s Symphony Orchestras in Moscow. The SOI played on the concluding night as part of the Grand Finale, in the presence of the highest echelons of Russian society.
Besides presenting orchestral and chamber music concerts, the SOI is available as a prestigious accompanying ensemble for soloists as well as for ballets, operas and musicals. It will also offer its services internationally as a resource for making recordings.
Piotr Borkowski was born in Warsaw and is a pupil of Boguslaw Madey. A graduate of the Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw, he was awarded a distinction for conducting the Warsaw National Philharmonic for his diploma concert (1989), followed by an assistantship in the Department of Conducting at his Alma Mater and doctorate (PhD in Conducting, 1997). In 2010, he was appointed Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of newly established orchestra of Gorzow Philharmonic – Centre for Art Education (Poland), where he served until November 2012. Presently, Mr. Borkowski is the Music Director of the United Chamber Orchestra and First Guest Conductor of the Kammersolisten der Deutschen Oper Berlin.
Balázs Fülei started to learn music at the age of eight. His interest in music and his performer qualities were already revealed in early childhood. His first teacher was Mrs Katonáné Szabó Judit. At the Bartók Conservatory, Budapest, his professors were Prof. Gábor Eckhardt and Prof. Balázs Réti and then he made his diploma with honours at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest, 2008 in Prof. György Nádor, Prof. Márta Gulyás and Prof. Balázs Réti’s class. In 2009-10 he was studying at Tel Aviv University, The Buchmann-Mehta School of Music with Prof. Emanuel Krasovsky. Mr Fülei has a wide repertoire, his solo concerts are famous for unique connections within the programmes. He has collaborated with several Hungarian composers, and his name is linked to premieres of contemporary works and radio recordings.
