Muscat: Zakir Hussain, Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer are three of the most prominent instrumentalists of our time. Performing together in one concert is undoubtedly an unprecedented event that will leave their audience with a memorable experience never to be forgotten. On Monday, 25 February, and Tuesday, 26 February, the Royal Opera House Muscat promises its patrons two nights to remember with the Virtuoso Trio who will be playing their favourite instruments: Hussain, tabla, Fleck, banjo and Meyer, bass. The Symphony Orchestra of India conducted by Zane Dalal and featuring Music Director and Violinist, Marat Bisengaliev, will be accompanying the three artists.
The audience is vouchsafed two shows in two nights with a slight difference in the program. The Trio, Hussain, Fleck and Meyer will be performing together their triple concerto titled "The Melody of Rhythm" on both nights; however, the first night (Monday) will be presenting Mikhail Glinka's "Ruslan and Lyudmila-Ouverture" followed by Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, played by Marat Bisengaliev. As for the second night (Tuesday), Tchaikovsky will be again present through his "Symphony No. 5 in E minor", which will be brilliantly performed by the Symphony Orchestra of India.
Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain is today appreciated both in the field of percussion and in the music world at large as an international phenomenon. A classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order, his consistently brilliant and exciting performances have not only established him as a national treasure in his own country, India, but earned him worldwide fame.
Zakir Hussain is considered one of the greatest musicians of our time. Along with his legendary father and teacher, Ustad Allarakha, he has elevated the status of his instrument, the tabla, both in India and around the world.
A child prodigy, Zakir began touring at the age of twelve, becoming the most acclaimed Indian musician of his generation and one of the world's leading percussionists. He is the recipient of many honours, including a recent Grammy® in the Best Contemporary World Music category for the album Global Drum Project with Mickey Hart, Giovanni Hidalgo and Sikiru Adepoju; the Padma Bhushan from the government of India in 2002; and the 1999 National Heritage Fellowship, the United States' most prestigious honour for a master in traditional arts.
Béla Fleck
Béla Fleck has been called the premiere banjo player in the world and has virtually reinvented the image and the sound of the instrument through a remarkable performing and recording career that has taken him all over the musical map at home as well as to the great classical halls and concert arenas abroad. Béla has won eleven Grammy® Awards and has been nominated in more different categories than anyone in Grammy history.
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer is prominently established as a unique and masterful instrumentalist and has an active career as both a performer and a composer. Hailed by the New Yorker as '...the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively unchronicled history of his instrument', Mr. Meyer's unparalleled technique and musicianship in combination with his gift for composition have brought him to the fore, where he is appreciated by a vast, varied audience.
Collaborations are a central part of Mr. Meyer's work. His widely-acclaimed performing and recording projects include a duo with Chris Thile; a duo with Béla Fleck; a quartet with Joshua Bell, Sam Bush and Mike Marshall; a trio with Béla Fleck and Mike Marshall; and a trio with Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O'Connor. The latter trio collaborated for Appalachia Waltz in 1996 and its Grammy® Award-winning follow-up Appalachian Journey in March 2000.
The Symphony Orchestra of India
In August 2006, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) formed The Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI), the country's first fully professional symphony orchestra, offering a series of concerts in Mumbai over the course of two seasons each year, in September and February. The orchestra has also begun to tour nationally and to take music into communities in order to enthuse new and young audiences around India. 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.