Evelyn Dias
I
ndia’s most well-known musicians are exponents of the numerous schools of indigenous classical music. What’s not so well known is that music maestro Zubin Mehta apart, there are several other Indians who have earned laurels and distinction in the highly competitive world of western classical music. For instance Patricia Rosario is an internationally acclaimed soprano; Oscar Pereira was a violinist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for decades; Neal Peres Da Costa is a professor of pianoforte at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London. To this symphony of virtuoso musicians steeped in the western classical tradition, add the name of twenty something Evelyn Dias.The winner of a spate of amateur talent contests in Mumbai, Dias went on to study music at the University of Iowa’s School of Music which awarded her bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Currently working as a ballet accompanist at the University of Iowa Dance Forum, Dias drew thunderous applause at a packed concert in Mumbai, during a recent visit to the nation’s culturally sensitive commercial capital.
Her formal music education began in right earnest at the age of 13, when Mumbai-based pianist and music critic Norma Carneiro Alphonso became Dias’ teacher. "Studying and learning with Ms. Alphonso for ten years was excellent preparation for the transition to music school in the US. My current teacher and guide is Dr. Ksenia Nosikova who trained at the Moscow Conservatory and University of Colorado. She continues to contribute rich and varied insights to my growth process," says Dias acknowled-ging a debt to her tutors and mentors.
Committed to a life of continuous learning and particularly appreciative of the scores of classicists Bach and Ravel, Dias revels in her chosen vocation. "Each musical composition and composer has a message and character. That’s why some compositions move you more than others. It is this indefinable connection rather than academic dissection of a masterpiece composition that is the glory of great musical scores," she philosophises.
Dias looks forward to continued growth as a pianist, musician and eventually, teacher of music. "After my doctoral thesis I hope to perform as a concert pianist and groom another generation of talented musicians. This could be in India or abroad — it doesn’t matter because great compositions are subject to varying interpretations and are the common heritage of humankind," says Dias.
Play on.
Ronita Torcato (Mumbai)
Surya Sripathy
Although the Indian feature film industry including Bollywood and its regional clones is the world’s largest in terms of number of films (750 plus) produced annually, only a handful of them succeed at the box office. This is primarily because Indian film directors have not outgrown the typical melodrama and song-n-dance tradition of Indian cinema. Logical storylines, high quality screenplay and social realism are conspicuous by their absence in the make-believe world of mainstream cinema. Surya Sripathy (25), a direction, animation and scriptwriting student at the School of Audio Engineering (SAE) College, Bangalore (estb. 2000), a subsidiary of the Australia-based SAE International, is hell-bent on proving an exception to this rule. Recently Sripathy notched up a record of sorts while shooting a 35-minute documentary film on the Papagni river reservoir project in Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh. He multi-tasked as assistant director, scriptwriter, editor and cinematographer during the 18-day film project which also required his active involvement in creating animations, special effects and music compositions — all done in a makeshift studio on the dam site. Since then the documentary has been purchased by the Andhra government and telecast several times. "The film served the useful purpose of educating farmers about efficient water usage practices and storage. Hence its popularity," says Sripathy, an electrical engineering alumnus of Vishakapatnam’s Acharya Nagarjuna University.
Sripathy developed an interest in the audio-visual medium in childhood, but like all God-fearing middle-class individuals, his bank manager father was against the idea of his son entering the big bad world of cinema. Therefore he qualified as an electrical engineer, but after graduation persuaded his parents to permit him to pursue a diploma programme in film direction.
"By a happy coincidence my electrical engineering education has qualified me to maintain equipment and innovate lighting systems," he says.
Following the success of his first documentary, Sripathy is committed to a full-time career in the film industry, with the eventual goal of upgrading mainstream cinema. "But my ultimate ambition is to produce mainstream movies which will be globally acceptable," he says.
That’s a consummation devoutly to be wished!
Srinidhi Raghavendra (Bangalore)