Vienna music feast in Shillong ~ About Meghalaya

Austrian orchestra to play Khasi music as part of diplomatic celebrations

The Vienna Chamber Orchestra

Shillong, March 11 : If “harmony” is the key to diplomatic ties between India and Austria, a Vienna orchestra playing a Khasi opera may well be its most sterling highlight.

Usually, when two countries come together to celebrate their bond, you expect an academic fete, exotic food and a grand social evening.

But if one the countries in question is Mozart’s Austria, you can trust the land to say it with music.

And the first stop of this extravaganza is Shillong, where the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Shillong Chamber Choir will meld each other’s tunes tomorrow as the two countries come together to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic ties.

Put together by the Austrian Council of Cultural Relations, the North East Zone Cultural Centre and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the concert is being supported by The Telegraph as media partner.

“This will be a unique musical treat as music lovers will be enthralled to listen to compositions by Mozart, Khasi opera and the music from the film Sound of Music played by both the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and Shillong Chamber Choir,” said Pauline Warjri, the organiser of the concert.

The Vienna orchestra will join the Shillong choir when it performs the Khasi folk opera Sohlyngngem, composed by mentor Neil Nongkynrih, also the choir’s mentor.

Some of the soloists of the evening include budding singers William Richmond Basaiawmoit and Ibarisha Lyngdoh.

Among those present will also be Joji Hattori, the musical director of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and a renowned violinist.

Hattori is one of the most well known Japanese musicians, a graduate of Oxford University and now a guest conductor of The Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera. He is also a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Tickets for the concert, which will be held at Aurobindo Hall from 6.30pm, have been priced at Rs 1,000, Rs 500 and Rs 300 and are available in many shops around the town.