MUMBAI: German composer Michael Herting, who is in the capital to perform a symphony that celebrates the life and teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, says he wants it to become a “counter model” to the world’s problems.
“Artists haven’t reacted to what’s happening in the world. I want to put the Sai Symphony as a counter model to the world’s problems,” Herting told IANS.
“We are from all nationalities, all religions and colours and show others that there is another possibility to come together without having frontiers, without frontiers. It’s not important to love your family, but also your enemy,” he added.
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Called the Global Sai Symphony, Herting’s composition in five movements will be performed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday.
“Sathya Sai Baba had been a music lover all his life… Many musicians of India played for him. There were few opportunities where classical orchestras would have performed Mozart and Beethoven. It was not really a tradition, but it was becoming a tradition at that time,” Herting said.
As to how the project came into being, Herting said, “After Sathya Sai Baba’s death, the name of Sai Symphony came into V. Srinivasan’s head. He would ask the people in the organisation concerned with the music and one of the people was the late Mandolin Srinivasan who asked me to be a part of this. I was roped in last July.”
Herting, who has performed in the city during 2011 and 2012, has been working since long to bridge different cultures.
“My work is in the music culture for 25 years. My concept is to bring different cultures together,” he said.
For the performance on Saturday, Herting has joined hands with Michael Koehler, the distinguished conductor of the Leipzig philharmonic, and musicians from countries as varied as Argentina, Malaysia, India, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Japan, Thailand, and Russia among others.
