Symphony Orchestra of India Seasons

The Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI), based at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, is India’s first and only professional orchestra. It was founded in 2006 by NCPA Chairman Khushroo N. Suntook and internationally-renowned violin virtuoso Marat Bisengaliev, who serves as the Orchestra’s Music Director.

Every year, the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) presents two seasons of symphony orchestra concerts, the Autumn season in September and the Spring season in February. Each includes symphonic concerts as well as recitals, and features renowned conductors and soloists.    

Past editions of the festival have been held both internationally and in India and has featured large-scale productions including fully-staged operas, besides the mainstays of the symphonic repertoire. In 2017, the SOI premiered a highly-acclaimed, innovative new production of La Bohème, conducted by Carlo Rizzi, featuring an international star cast. In February 2019, the SOI embarked on a six-concert tour to the United Kingdom, performing to delighted audiences in prestigious venues in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Guildford, and Edinburgh, and garnering rave reviews.

The Autumn 2022 season of SOI – and twenty-ninth so far – comprised four symphonic concerts, four recitals and three stagings of Johann Strauss II’s operetta Die Fledermaus in collaboration with the Hungarian State Opera. The season also featured music as wide ranging as Beethoven’s triple concerto, pieces from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet and Leonard Bernstein’s dances from the Broadway musical West Side Story. Among the acclaimed international artists making their India debuts were conductors Alpesh Chauhan and Richard Farnes from the UK; pianists Benjamin Grosvenor, Pavel Kolesnikov and Jean-Frédéric Neuberger from the UK, Russia and France respectively; cellist Henri Demarquette from France, violinist Sayaka Shoji from Japan and French horn player Ben Goldscheider from the UK.

The SOI Spring 2023 Season comprised four symphonic concerts and three incredible recitals, including Sir Karl Jenkins’ Requiem, an eclectic repertoire featuring music from Weber’s opera Der Freischütz, symphonies by Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Dvořák, Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, and more.

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