Pianist-Composer Sahil Vasudeva’s 2 Indias Ensemble Performs in Mumbai

The most famous composition by Spanish pianist-composer Isaac Albéniz is called “Asturias” and New Delhi pianist Sahil Vasudeva never finished learning it. “I gave up because I didn’t have the technique at the time to play it,” he says.

Albéniz’s works were based on (and later heavily inspired) Spanish folk music, but Vasudeva – ever the experimentalist when it comes to new ways of presenting Western classical music – takes it into a whole new realm with his 2 Indias Ensemble, who will perform an Indian classical-meets-piano rendition in Mumbai on November 18th.

Vasudeva is joined by sitarist Suhel Saeed Khan, sarangi artist Shahnawaz Khan (both hailing from the Dilli gharana) and percussionist Makrand Sanon for the performance, which was originally commissioned by the Embassy of Spain. They had their first performance on June 30th in New Delhi and are now bringing it to the Royal Opera House in Mumbai. Vasudeva praises the venue’s curator Asad Lalljee (also part of public programming platform Avid Learning) for adding another dimension of diversity for the 2 Indias Ensemble performance.

It was a collaborative performance with Spanish poet Federica Garica Lorca which set Vasudeva back on the track of exploring folk music from Spain. “It drew me back to this idea of doing this performance. I hadn’t heard a single other piece [than ‘Asturias’] before that,” the pianist-composer says. As the project was commissioned, he began going into Albéniz’s repertoire, taking three months to find suitable instruments, transcribing and playing the music note for note to figure everything out. Vasudeva says he was also “composing parts within it [pieces] and adding the crossovers by identifying raagas and formats from Hindustani classical.” He adds, “We were staying true to the text and [also] finding a balance on how to make the interpretation our own.”

There were several more challenges along the way, because this wasn’t music they were going to improvise. “So for Suhel (sitar) and Shahnawaz (sarangi) everything is in stark contrast to their style […] Honestly, we have kind of broken our heads over this and hats off to Suhel, Shahnawaz and Makrand because they have worked really hard,” Vasudeva says.

The original setup was going to be just piano and sitar, something that Vasudeva based on how many works of Albéniz are popularized on guitar. “But as I started hearing him more, an ensemble was playing in my head and I was hearing too many crossovers – eventually I went in with the idea that towards the end of the performance, the audience should feel like this music could belong anywhere; deeply rooted in Spanish culture/folk but brought to life in a traditional Indian spirit,” he adds.

Vasudeva is no stranger to crossovers – he’s worked in experimental settings like REProduce Listening Room shows, and performed alongside electronic music producer BLOT! aka Gaurav Malaker at Magnetic Fields Festival in Rajasthan and much more. The allure comes from following his instincts each time. “I have a penchant towards doing things differently/and not really going with the conventional idea of how something should be performed played and any performance I really spend time thinking about how I can make it my own or lend my sensibility and style,” he says.

Putting himself in these sort of situations and figuring it out helps him grow and now 2 Indias Ensemble is more than just a one-off project. Vasudeva says it’s turned into a band and they’ve already started working on incorporating jazz/progressive pieces and electronic music elements. There’s also a performance with a Spanish cellist and an album set to be recorded in 2023 for his solo project.

2 Indias Ensemble by Sahil Vasudeva performs on November 18th at Royal Opera House, Mumbai. Get tickets here. The event is in partnership with Embassy of Spain, Avid Learning – Arts & Culture, Furtados Music and Insider.