The Story So Far

Samyo was founded in 2002, and premiered at The Lowry. In its debut season, the orchestra performed to appreciative audiences in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and London, and it’s now back for an extended programme of events, including a National Tour in Autumn 2004 and early 2005. Take a look at our archive of performances, including pictures, audio and video extracts.

The Debut Year 2002

Samyo was founded in 2002. After conducting national auditions, the orchestra presented a high profile Premiere at the stunning Lowry theatre in Salford, Manchester. The young musicians were highly acclaimed and the orchestra gained a reputation as an exciting musical creation.

Samyo in 2003

Samyo returned in late 2003 with a new set of music and some fabulous young musicians joined the orchestra.

The 2003-4 tour started with a special afternoon performance at the University of Leeds. Images are from this performance

2004 & The Autumn Tour
2004 started with a memorable event at The Symphony Hall on 24th January. Samyo shared the performance with the CBSO, as part of its Classic Asia Season.

The first part of the year’s tour continued with a performance as part of the FUSELEEDS04 festival, when several new members of the orchestra were integrated into the team.

To celebrate five years of support for Youth Music around the country, the National Foundation for Youth Music created the Big Gig, at The Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Samyo was invited to perform, and played Rajeeb Chakraborty’s Nat Bhairav, at the start of the Second Half.

National Tour 2004/5.
The National Tour 2004/5 was an unprecedented success for the orchestra, as it toured from October – January to venues where the musicians had never previously performed. The tour began in October with the performance at the Barbirolli Room, and moved on to Bedford, Liverpool and a wonderful experience in ulverston, Cumbria, as part of the “Music from a Foreign Land” festival. The concert at The Sage Gateshead was the first South Asian music performance since the world-class venue opened. The tour finale was on January 29th – a special occasion attended by over 700 people at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Samyo in 2005 & 2006

Samyo at the Dartington International Summer School

Samyo collaborated for the first time with Dartington to bring Indian classical music back to this prestigious and historical venue. Samyo & Tarang both held week-long retreats at Dartington, with teaching by world music stars Ganesh & Kumaresh and Pt Debashish Bhattacharya.

Concerts in 2005/6

- London (Cadogan Hall)

- London (Queen Elizabeth Hall)

- Bristol (Asian Arts Agency)

- London (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan)

- Leicester (Sangeet Sabha Conference)

- Dartington International Summer School

- Durham (Kalapremi Arts)

- Edinburgh & Glasgow (Festival of British Youth Orchestras)

- London (British Museum)

- The Lowry (Salford Quays)

- Wolverhampton (Surdhwani)

Samyo Composers from 2002-2007

Dharambir Singh (Artistic Director 2002/5)

U Srinivas

Prof T V Gopalakrishnan

Sanju Sahai

Pt Ajoy Chakraborty

Ganesh & Kumaresh

Pt Debashish Bhattacharya

Pavithra Mahesh

Sanjay Guha

Dr Rajeeb Chakraborty

Veenai Jayanthi

Sri Ashit Desai

Bhavani Shankar

Manorama Prasad

(Director of Music 2006-present)

Sanju Sahai

(Associate Director of Music 2006-present)