World Premiere by Renowned Composer and Holy Cross Prof. Shirish Korde to Highlight Boston Musica Viva Concert

Boston Musica Viva (BMV), Boston’s first professional contemporary music ensemble, will present a concert titled “Origins,” which will highlight the world premier of a “KA” a dynamic new song cycle by Shirish Korde, chair and professor of the music department at the College of the Holy Cross. The concert, on April 27 at the Tsai Performance Center in Boston, will be directed by Richard Pittman, BMV music director, and will weave the musical influences of India, Peru, Israel, and the American South with traditional Western chamber ensemble.

Korde’s music is influenced by diverse world music traditions ranging from the throat singers of Tuva and the ancient Vedic chants of India, to the shimmering colors of the Balinese Gong Kebyar Gamelan orchestra. Korde is celebrated for “integrating and synthesizing music of diverse cultures into breathtaking works of complex expressive layers” (Musical America).

Korde says his musical pieces have primarily Indian and Western influences, which is a combination that is rarely composed. “One of my passions is combining two genres, which I’ve been working on in original ways,” he shares.  

Korde performs throughout the U.S. and Europe. Previous collaborations with BMV include the premieres of “Blue Topeng” (2003), “Songs of Ecstasy” (2008), and the full-length operas “Chitra” (2000) and “Phoolan Devi: The Bandit Queen” (2010).

“KA” is commissioned by Boston Musica Viva for Carnatic soprano Deepti Navaratna, who made her BMV debut in “Phoolan Devi: The Bandit Queen.”

Three other composers will also be featured in the performance including Jorge Villavicencio Grossmann, Eitan Steinberg, and Ezra Sims.“The different performances all have different angles,” says Korde. “It should be interesting to hear the many diverse and cultural influences in the pieces.”

Korde graduated from the master of music program at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and completed his graduate studies at Brown University. He has won a number of awards—both national and international—over the course of his career. He has been a member of the Holy Cross faculty since 1976.

Advance tickets for the concert are available by visiting www.bmv.org or by calling the Boston Musica Viva box office (617) 354-6910. Tickets are $10-30.