Your Conductor
In her tenure as Music Director for Chicago Sinfonietta, Mei-Ann Chen has brought the orchestra to new artistic heights, developing an aggressively adventurous approach to repertoire and collaboration while firmly anchoring her ambitious plans in the Sinfonietta’s quarter-century plus heritage of diversity, inclusion and service to the community. READ MORE
What is Diwali?
Diwali is a five-day ‘festival of lights’ celebrated by Indian communities around the world. Although originally a Hindu festival, it is now celebrated by all Indian religions, including Jainism and Buddhism. In India, it takes place on the fifteenth day of the Kartik - the holiest month for Hindus. In other countries, such as Malaysia and Nepal, Diwali is usually celebrated to coincide with other national holidays.
What does it commemorate?
Diwali celebrates light conquering dark, and good conquering evil. As the festival also coincides with the Hindu New Year, Diwali additionally celebrates gods and goddesses that are crucial to Hindu culture. Among these are Ganesh, the god of wisdom and good fortune, and Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Some Hindus believe that Diwali is simultaneously Lashkmi's birthday and the day she married Lord Vishnu, the protector of the universe.
Different communities commemorate different legends. Northern Indias emphasize the story of Rama and Sita's return from exile after battling a demon with ten heads. Nepalis, however, celebrate the victory of Krishna over the demon king Narakasura.
How is it celebrated?
Indians clean their homes and wear their best clothes for Diwali. They also leave their windows open to allow the spirits of their gods to enter their home.
In order to prevent any darkness, every home is lit with diyas. In fact, "Diwali" translates to "rows of lighted lamps." In the evening, there are firecrackers and fireworks.
Finally, eating and praying are also crucial parts of the holiday. Each family has their traditional dish for Diwali, and sweets are an important part of the celebrations.
Gaurav Mazumdar is a sitarist born in Allahabad, India to a musical family. He was first introduced to music through the violin, which he trained in before Ravi Shankar, a legendary composer and musician of Hindu classical music, discovered Mazumdar and taught him to play the sitar.
Renowned for his mastery of the raag and taal (the melodic and rhythmic patterns of Indian classical music), Mazumdar has performed duets with musicians from both Hindustani (North Indian) and Carnatic (South Indian) traditions.
He has also frequently collaborated with Western musicians, including prominent composers such as Philip Glass, Daniel Hope, and Kenny Warner. In 2004, Mazumdar was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work as a violinist on East Meets West by Daniel Hope.
In addition to his work as a musician and composer, Mazumdar is dedicated to training the next generation of sitarists from all over the world.
Reena Esmail is an Indian-American composer whose work has been programmed all over the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Barbican Center (London), and the Schloss Esterhazy (Austria). She has collaborated with organizations such as Kronos Quartet, Albany Symphony, and the American Composers Orchestra. Through her compositions, Esmail seeks to blend Indian and Western musical traditions.
Esmail holds multiple degrees in composition from the Juilliard School and the Yale School of Music, and has been awarded with the Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Esmail is also an educator, teaching music theory and composition at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege and Yale College.
Eric Whitacre was born in Reno, Nevada. He studied piano as a child and joined a junior marching band, but did not begin his musical training until studying composition at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. After graduate studies at the Juilliard School, Whitacre completed his first composition for wind orchestra, ‘Ghost Train,’ and moved to Los Angeles after its immediate success.
By the turn of the century, Whitacre’s orchestral and choral works had established him as one of the most prolific modern American composers. He has recorded multiple albums as composer and conductor, and won a Grammy in 2012 for his album Light and Gold.
In addition to his work as a composer, Whitacre has conducted for prestigious orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and has been appointed as Artist in Residence at Cambridge University and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Whitacre has also been dedicated to a unique project called the Virtual Choir, in which he conducts thousands of young artists from around the world through Skype performances.
Claude Debussy was born in St-Germain-en-Laye, France in 1862. 10-year-old Debussy showed such talent as a pianist that he was sent to the Paris Conservatory where his professors recognized his unique talent, although they were already confused by his early attempts at musical innovation. At 22, Debussy entered his cantata The Prodigal Child to the Prix de Rome and won the opportunity to study music in Italy for three years.
Once Debussy returned to Paris, he composed his first masterpieces, including Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (1892) and his String Quartet (1893). Though his opera, Pelléas et Mélisande (1895), was controversial and divided public opinion, it made Debussy one of the most prominent and recognizable composers of his generation. However, it was not until later in his career that he composed the pieces for which he is now most famous: La Mer (1905); Images (1905); Clair de Lune (1905); and Passepied (1905).
Widely regarded as the father of musical impressionism, Debussy constantly sought to innovate through his compositions, and developed musical structures inspired by the ideals of the impressionist painters and writers of the time.
