KOCHI: The boy who used to dream of conquering the skies through skilful handling of planes is today winning over fans in droves and that too at a flick of his wrists. Alexander Briger, the artistic director and chief conductor of Australian World Orchestra (AWO) who was awarded the Order of Australia for services to music as a leading conductor in 2016, is making another distinction in his career by being the first to conduct a full-scale orchestra in Kerala. The concert will be on September 25.
After studying conducting in Sydney and Munich, Alexander made his debut with Opera Australia in 1998 conducting Jenůfa. “My operatic work for Opera Australia has since included Madama Butterfly, Cosi fan Tutte, The Cunning Little Vixen, The Marriage of Figaro and A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” he says.
“When I was 12, I happened to attend a concert conducted by my uncle Sir Charles Mackerras at the Sydney Opera House. The music held me spellbound. The manner in which my uncle controlled the ebb and flow of the notes making them come together in a very beautiful manner got me hooked. I too wanted to control music. So, I decided then and there to become a conductor,” says Briger. He says, “Music transports me. But I have to control my passion because if I lose control, it will have an adverse impact on the performance of the orchestra. Just like Sachin Tendulkar or Don Bradman couldn’t afford to lose their cool, I too can’t become extremely emotional.”
Among the various compositions by musical stalwarts, Briger loves Beethoven’s creations. “I have conducted with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. However, I wanted to do something back home. We are placed so down under in the globe, we are out of focus of the world. I wanted to change that,” says Briger who decided to form an orchestra composed of musicians or Australian origin.
“Do you know that many brilliant musicians are playing for various orchestras all over the world. And there is a common thing that ties them together, their familiarity with each other. So we sent out feelers and all of them agreed wholeheartedly. In 2010, the Australian World Orchestra took birth,” he says. The orchestra performed its first concert at the Sydney Opera House. “The performance was a phenomenal success,” says Briger brimming with pride.
However, we wanted to be taken note of by the world, says Briger. “That set me thinking and it was decided to invite a renowned conductor. During the discussions, we thought why no Zubin Mehta, a musical genius and a master whose name is cited along with the four other great conductors in the world. Also, we have a sizeable Indian population,” he says. And this was the start of a relationship that saw the AWO performing a concert in Mumbai in 2015 after being invited by the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation.
“We did workshops and music outreach programmes in Mumbai.
We interacted with the kids from the slums in the city with the help of Asha, an NGO. The aim was to inspire the kids to take up music. We wanted to introduce Western classical music among the people of India,” he says. In order to help the people relate to Western classical music, AWO took the interesting but successful path of telling well-known Indian mythological story with the help of western music. “These stories helped the audience to relate with our music,” says Briger. He was struck by the pride and dignity of the underprivileged people.
Briger says, “It’s exciting to be back. And to perform in Kerala, which has a rich heritage of music is really awesome. What makes this concert more interesting is the fact that it has been organised to help out autistic kids.” AWO will be interacting with autistic kids at the Centre for Autism at Thiruvalla. “One of the interesting facets of this concert is the inclusion of mezzo-soprano Caroline Meng as guest soloist and a solo performance by Daniel Dodds on his 1717 Stradivarius violin,” says Briger.
In a nutshell
Alexander Briger was awarded the Order of Australia for services to music as a leading conductor in 2016
The fund generated through the concert will be donated to centre for autism
Over 1,000 to 1,500 people are expected
Admittance is only by invitation
