The new year ushers in distinguished debuts, returning favourites and a sparkling orchestral season to the NCPA

There’s seldom a lull in the theatres and wings at the NCPA. As the curtains go down on a year of scaling new heights and presenting fine performances, the centre now gears up for a promising Spring 2025 Season of the Symphony Orchestra of India. One of Britain’s most acclaimed conductors known for his cherished association with the Hallé Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder, arrives at the NCPA for his maiden concert in India. Maestro Zubin Mehta will return to conduct the SOI in a programme which celebrates the grandeur of Mahler’s fifth and the depth of Dvořák’s seventh. Pianist Alexander Gadjiev, BBC New Generation Artist 2019-22, will be the soloist for the opening concert. A highlight of the season is over 200 musicians coming together for two Opera Gala concerts featuring excerpts from Bizet’s Carmen and Verdi’s La Traviata. Soprano Roberta Mantegna, mezzo-soprano Olesya Petrova, tenor Luciano Ganci and baritone George Petean will be the soloists onstage under the baton of Maestro Mehta.   

Legendary conductors Zubin Mehta and Mark Elder will lead the SOI Spring Season

The season follows a successful 31st edition of Operalia, the prestigious competition’s first foray into India. A week of operatic brilliance concluded with Kathleen O’Mara, soprano from the USA and China’s bass-baritone Le Bu bagging the first prize.  

Operalia’s 31st edition was held at the NCPA, the prestigious competition’s maiden edition in South Asia

“While we embark on our new orchestral season, the highlight of the SOI Autumn 2024 Season was the remarkable interest shown by the great jury members of Operalia and chiefs of opera houses in the marvellous collection at the NCPA called the Stuart-Liff Collection,” says Khushroo N. Suntook, Chairman, NCPA.  

Many more international artistes will make their way to Mumbai this year. Known for her rich tones and phrasing in jazz, swing, Latin and blues, vocalist Elena Gilliam will have her maiden performance at the NCPA this Jan to kick off the year on a high note. She will be joined by the George Gilliam Quartet.   

Elena Gilliam will peform alongside the George Gilliam Quintet at the Tata Theatre

The NCPA Soulful Blues, too, is back after two memorable editions of syncopated rhythms and evocative refrains with an award-winning line-up. Opening the festival is vocalist and guitarist Alvon Johnson, followed by blues singer Thornetta Davis on day two and noted singer Tia Carrol on the closing day. All three artistes will make their India debut at the NCPA this Mar.  

While the stage is alive with performances at the NCPA, the sound of music will travel to different corners of the city. NCPA@thePark, an ongoing initiative started in 2022 to celebrate the return of live concerts to physical spaces after the lockdowns, is back for an ambitious season. Every Saturday until Mar, the NCPA will take the gift of the arts to four parks across the city. The idea to make art accessible and inclusive has been endorsed by Mumbai.   

As a major national presence, the centre regularly collaborates with organisations across India. The arts magazine of the NCPA, ON Stage, travelled to the Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) in Panaji, Goa, one of the largest multidisciplinary cultural events in India. It hosted a panel discussion titled The Shrinking Space for Writing on the Arts, where noted journalists Naresh Fernandes and Suanshu Khurana discussed the subject in a session moderated by the magazine’s editor, Snigdha Hasan. Another significant collaboration will feature six presentations by Korean and Japanese artistes at the NCPA this Jan. Sacred Rhythms: The Dance Legacy of Buddhism by Yi Chu-jin will include a composition of eight sequences representing the four seasons, the crane dance of Korean traditional scholars and folk dances. 

The NCPA embraces all the major strands of Indian music and continues to feature a wide spectrum of artistes in diverse genres ranging from classical, semi-classical to devotional, regional and folk. After a splendid opening in Dec, with performances by Shujaat Khan and Amjad Ali Khan, the annual Indian music festival Citi NCPA Aadi Anant: From Here to Eternity, will travel to Chennai and Delhi. The Siri Fort Auditorium in the capital will see performances by acclaimed vocalist Kaushiki Chakraborty and pianist Rahul Wadhwani to name a few.  

The unique thematic element associated with various music festivals at the NCPA has cultivated dedicated audiences. Chief among them is the Sufi music festival, Sama’a: The Mystic Ecstasy, which takes place every February. The line-up this year includes qawwali by Wadali Brothers, the beloved sufi ensemble Nizami Bandhu and the charming duo of Vishal and Rekha Bhardwaj.  

Beloved sufi ensemble Nizami Bandhu

Songs of the River Ganga, a multimedia presentation by celebrated composer Shantanu Moitra this Jan, takes listeners on a musical journey with seamless storytelling, drawing from his expedition along the majestic Ganges. He will be joined by noted vocalist Kaushiki Chakraborty, veteran Carnatic vocalist Bombay Jayshree, virtuoso violinist Ambi Subramaniam, playback singer Mohit Chauhan and singer-songwriter Taba Chake, among other prominent artistes.  

The NCPA Spectrum Dance Festival, another yearly celebration that brings talented dancers and choreographers from various genres to experiment with new vocabularies while retaining the legacy of classical dances, will be held in Febr. Presentations of Bharatanatyam by Vaibhav Arekar & troupe and Contemporary Dance & Live Camera by As We Are titled Shoot the Cameraman make the eclectic 2025 line-up. An Odissi performance by Sujata Mohapatra & troupe and a union of Kathak and Flamenco by Aditi Bhagwat and Bettina Castaño will conclude the festival. 

In addition to an extensive roster of performances, the NCPA places great emphasis on education, building on a well-established programme of workshops, classes and special events for young minds. The NCPA Mumbai Dance Season is a community engagement initiative started by the NCPA in 2018 in association with the classical dance community in the city. Held over four weeks across Mumbai starting in Jan, the programme aims to bring dancers, dance schools, teachers and students together through collaborations. Manisha Jeet, Nivedita Mukerjee, Dr. Malati Agneeswaran and Dr. Jayashree Rajagopalan are among the curators this year. 

A glimpse from the opening of Mumbai Dance Season 2024

Connections India, the annual youth theatre programme in association with the National Theatre, UK, will have its grand showcase in Jan. A fixture on the calendar of a growing number of schools, the festival has doubled its reach across the city in a mere three years. A total of 16 participant schools this year also include a special needs school. Another happy addition this year will be two new scripts written by Indian theatre artistes Sheena Khalid and Arghya Lahiri. Just like the plays commissioned by the National Theatre, these scripts deal with characters and ideas that concern young people. Tours and field trips at the NCPA as well as workshops in stage management, costumes, lights, sound and set design are also included for a well-rounded learning experience. 

Participants attend a series of workshops under Connections India