A young Indian born NRI has been following the Polish composer Frederick Chopin of the romantic period very closely. Chopin is considered one of the finest virtuoso pianist and composers of the 19th century. Seenu Singh, 23, a final year student at the Royal Conservatory of Flanders in Antwerp, Belgium, was recently in the city performing Chopin’s recitals at the NCPA. With the hip hop and jazz culture invading the music scene, Western classical music is on the verge of becoming obsolete. Yet the everlasting music of the maestros still lingers in the hearts of a few passionate music lovers.
Though the music compositions of Western classics by Beethoven and romantics by Liszt seem centuries old, they still strike a chord in the hearts of young Indians. And they did Singh’s performance in Mumbai recently.
Singh, who has been living in Belgium for 16 years, says, “I chose Chopin’s recitals since his music is a union of elegant, expressive melodies and experimental, rich harmonies, all combined with a brilliant piano technique. His works were composed expressly for the instrument and is a synthesis between Polish tradition and the classical elements of Western Europe.” In India, where Western classical music is not very popular, Singh was awestruck by the reception he got. “The reception was very warm in the city. The audience seemed to enjoy Chopin’s compositions. In a country where Indian classical music flourishes, such appreciation for music was unexpected,” says Singh.
Singh, who is currently learning under the guidance of Prof. Levente Kende and Prof. Heidi Henderickx, is also a winner of several international piano competitions in France, including the Alexandre Scriabin held in Paris in 2007.
Singh started playing the piano when he was six.
After high school, he chose to take up music.
“I was planning to pursue a career in medicine or engineering but my piano teacher convinced me to take the entrance examination at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp,” he remarks.
A young talent with a lot to prove, Singh has planned an Indian tour this year where he will be enchanting his audience with music recitals of Chopin. After performing in Mumbai and Pune, he will now be coming back in October to perform in New Delhi at the India International Centre.
Singh will also be performing at discussing concerts in France and Czech Republic between 2008 and 2009.
Seenu intends to get into fulltime music teaching in the future, but for the present, he wishes to concentrate on completing his course at the RC and perform at concerts.