Kousic Sen – Percussion Conductor

The Great British Gharana: SAMYO

Saturday 23 March – Southbank Centre, London

For anyone who is a regular at our concerts, Kousic Sen is a familiar face. As our Artist in Residence, he is often found accompanying the many illustrious artists who grace our Music for the Mind and Soul stage. He is a master tabla artiste, who moved to the UK from Kolkata, and he has been performing professionally for over 30 years. What our audience members may not be aware of is his long-standing association with our ensembles, SAMYO, Sabrang and Tarang, as their percussion tutor and conductor.

Kousic wanted to work with these young musicians because he thought it was of vital importance to nurture the talents of the next generation of performers. When he was first starting his career as a musician, there was very little guidance available to him, and so he decided he wanted to give young performers the chance he didn’t get. He quickly became of the one most beloved tutors to work with SAMYO.

Working with SAMYO has been a job Kousic has thoroughly enjoyed doing. When asked what his favourite thing about the ensemble was, he answered, “they always manage to surprise me when we push them”. He praised their ability to “take on whatever challenge we give them” and their unique ability to “advance Indian classical music in an orchestral manner”, given that they are one of the very few groups in the world practising this style of performance.

Unsurprisingly, Kousic’s favourite piece in the SAMYO repertoire is the latest percussion one. “It’s a brand new composition based on a 21 beat cycle, that has been created to push the possibilities of the percussion section”, he elaborated. Asked what the audience can expect from the performance, he said the “should expect brand new pieces and exciting new concepts”, not just from the percussion piece XI, but from a whole host of exciting new compositions. His favourite thing about his job? “Seeing the hard work the members put in throughout the year result in an amazing concert at the end!”

Do not miss your chance to see this wholly unique youth orchestra take to the stage. Tickets on sale now: (BUY HERE)