A.R. Rahmen is one of the great musical luminaries with a record of success going back long before his music for Slumdog Millionaire won an Oscar.
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The VSO and VIFF present An Evening with A.R. Rahman
When: Saturday, Oct. 5, 8 p.m.
Where: Orpheum Theatre, 601 Smithe St.
Like progressive orchestras everywhere, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is always trying out strategies to lure new listeners into the concert hall. Last spring, for example, the VSO and the Audain Foundation offered an art and music event that showcased celebrated Canadian painter Jean Paul Riopelle. This fall the VSO offers an even bolder collaboration, this time with the Vancouver International Film Festival: An Evening with A.R. Rahman: Stories and Music from his Career.
The Orchestra has long enjoyed interaction with film music. Back in the 1980s it recorded a pair of Georges Delerue soundtracks, and its current movies with live music presentations draw big crowds. However, this is the VSO’s first contact with the astonishingly fecund world of Indian cinema. And A.R. Rahmen is one of the great musical luminaries of that world, with a record of success going back long before his music for Slumdog Millionaire (1980) won an Oscar.
A few days ago I had the pleasure of a transcontinental zoom with Rahman, and asked to know exactly how he broke into one of the most demanding of specialties in the music industry.
“I grew up with music,” he said. “My father was an arranger, composer, and orchestrator,” though that career path wasn’t appreciated by everyone. “His family basically threw him out.” Rahman senior worked hard to get a house and make things better for his family.
A.R. Rahman was born in 1967; his father died when he was nine, and already laying the groundwork for his own career, learning about music and helping out with studio work. “So my mother asked ‘Why are you setting up equipment when you yourself could play?’ In those days every parent said ‘Become a doctor or a lawyer and you can take up music later.’ But my mother said, ‘Don’t waste your time with that stuff; do what your father did!’” So Rahman’s so-called formal education ended, and the practical business of a brilliant career was launched.
It seems to have been exactly the right strategy, and Rahman has never looked back. He bridges orchestral music, classical Indian traditions north and south, electronics, and various pop idioms. If it’s all a bit dizzying for ordinary mortals, the composer built the skill set to make it all work. Then the Slumdog score brought him a wide international following.
“All the things that I assumed would be impossible became easy,” he recalls. “I could walk into any studio, take meetings with Warners, Fox, DreamWorks, all these places. Things that I never dreamt I’d be doing.”
Plans for the Vancouver event are still in flux. The composer-performer rather likes a bit of spontaneity as he engages with musicians, audiences, and of course favourite examples from the host of movies he’s contributed to. Singer Mayssa Karaa, flutist Ashwin Srinivasan, and Rahman himself will be on tap to augment the orchestra in music from hits like 127 Hours, Le Musk, Rangeela, and, of course, Slumdog Millionaire.
“The VSO is known for bringing today’s top composers, conductors and musicians from around the world to Vancouver, and reflecting the rich diversity of our city through our concerts and community programming” says Cameron MacRae, VSO vice-president of Marketing. “We’re so honoured to welcome A.R. Rahman to the Orpheum stage for what promises to be an unforgettable evening of music and storytelling, and to collaborate again with our friends at VIFF.”