Scottish Ensemble are joined by Jasdeep Singh Degun for latest ambitious cross-genre collaboration

• Scottish Ensemble are joined by Jasdeep Singh Degun for their latest ambitious cross-genre collaboration.
• Scottish Ensemble partner with composer and sitarist Jasdeep Singh Degun, for a collaborative tour across Scotland this October.
• Jasdeep is one of Britain’s leading voices in the Indian Classical Music tradition, and this tour will see him performing for the first time in Scotland.
• The performance will feature the premier of a new composition by Jasdeep forsitar, tabla and strings, written specifically to be performed alongside Scottish Ensemble’s musicians.
• Touring to Dundee, Edinburgh, Inverness, Glasgow and Manchester, this performance promises to spin a music tale of mesmerising melody, not to be missed!

“Showcases the classical music of the subcontinent but also mixes, melds and
modernises it.” – Financial Times, on Jasdeep’s debut album Anomaly

Scottish Ensemble kick off the first collaboration of their 2023/24 season performing alongside Leeds-born sitarist and composer, Jasdeep Singh Degun. Jasdeep has earned a reputation as one of the UK’s leading voices in the Indian Classical Music tradition.

He has performed at a wide range of prestigious and high-profile venues across the UK and abroad, including performing for Prince Harry as part of BBC Documentary Goldies Band; at the UN opening of the Amphitheatre in Doha, Qatar in 2012 in a concert led by composer Vangelis; accompanying Donovan at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool; and in a sell-outperformance of his album Anomaly at the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room.

Partnering with Scottish Ensemble, Jasdeep will be bringing his unique approach to Indian classical composition to Scottish audiences for the first time. Scottish Ensemble and Jasdeep will tour to Dundee, Edinburgh, Inverness and Glasgow, with an additional afternoon performance at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Jasdeep began work with Scottish Ensemble in July, when a quintet of string musicians to joined him and tabla player Harkiret Singh Bahra to begin developing this performance.

Together they began to bring together the complex and contrasting traditions of Indian and Western classical music. Scottish Ensemble took this opportunity to get to grips with the uber-tight rhythms and the beautiful balance of structure and freedom at the heart of the Indian classical music.

Scottish Ensemble are well-known for their innovative and ambitious cross-genre and crossartform collaborations. They strive to create exhilarating musical experiences through working with musicians from a wide array of genres and musical traditions. The development of this work has tested their musicians’ skills and challenged how they think about music and performance.

These moments are where collaboration flourishes, pushing the boundaries of form and genre, and challenging conventional musical labels or categorisation.

This performance will feature a number of compositions by Jasdeep Singh Degun, including works from his album Anomaly, alongside work by medieval German composer Hildegard von Bingen, and American contemporary composer Terry Riley.

These pieces of western repertoire are rooted in minimalism, drones, and improvisation, and were selected to complement and enhance the experience of Jasdeep’s compositions.

Hildegard von Bingen was a 12th-century abbess and polymath and is one of the most well known and most recorded composers of sacred monophony – Christian religious music which follows a single melodic line.

Drawing a contrast with this ancient music, is Terry Riley’s Sunrise of the
Planetary Dream Collector written for the Kronos Quartet in 1980.

This work allows its performers to “co-compose” a version of the piece. It is composed of 24 repeating modules designed to be combined, juxtaposed, and overlapped freely by the musicians in performance.

A highlight of the concert will come with the world premiere of a new work by Jasdeep, commissioned by Scottish Ensemble specifically for this tour.

This new work, composed for sitar, tabla, and string quintet, draws upon the creative collaboration between Jasdeep and Scottish Ensemble’s players from their initial rehearsals. Jasdeep spent two days with Scottish Ensemble’s musicians, sharing knowledge and experience, rehearsing arrangements of Jasdeep’s work and the western repertoire.

This experience and exchange of knowledge has built the foundation for Jasdeep’s new work, which is written specifically to be performed with Scottish Ensemble’s quintet of musicians.

Join Scottish Ensemble and Jasdeep Singh Degun this October for a musical tale, driven by the beautiful spontaneity of the Indian Classical tradition, transporting you through layers of mesmerising melody.

Listings Details

Dundee – Wed 4 October, 8pm – Marryat Hall
Edinburgh – Thu 5 October, 8pm – The Queen’s Hall
Inverness – Fri 6 October, 8pm – Eden Court
Glasgow – Sat 7 October, 8pm – Adelaide Place
Manchester – Sun 8 October, 4pm– Royal Northern College of Music

Tickets – https://scottishensemble.co.uk/programme/2023-24/jasdeep-singh-degun/