Rehman announces setting up of Music conservatory

Celebrated music director A R Rehman has set up a state-of-the-art music conservatory here to create a ‘worldclass orchestra’ that could score music for the Indian composers and to train students in vocal as well as instrumental music. ‘The KM Music Conservatory and Audio Media Education,’ said to be India’s first Apple-authorised training centre, was a birthday gift from the maestro, who turned 42 on Sunday last. “Currently, Indian composers have to go abroad to find an orchestra for recording. The KM Music Conservatory aims to remove this obstacle by providing an exemplary orchestra in India,” he said in a statement.The conservatory, an integrated school of music, to start functioning from the coming academic year, would have faculty from both India and abroad educating students in Indian and western classical music. The school would currently be auditioning and accepting singers and students who play flute, oboe, clarinet, french horn, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, double bass and percussion. The courses include western and Indian classical vocal, instrumental performance, western and Indian music theory, music appreciation, ear training, piano, audio engineering, an Apple-certified course in logic pro and a digi-design-certified course in pro tools.After the completion of the program, the students would also have an opportunity to audition for the professional KM Music Symphony Orchestra. Scholarships would also be offered to deserving students from the A R Rehman Foundation. While acknowledging that synthesizers and electronic sounds played a significant role in the evolution of music in the 80s and 90s, Rehman also rued that listeners had begun to lose interest in live classical compositions. If the trend of listening only to synthesizers and electronic sounds continued, the future generation would be deprived of the joy of live classical music, he felt.”I feel, as a modern classical musician, having the knowledge of both music performance and music technology is invaluable.” “Having only the skill to perform an instrument may not necessarily be lucrative. However, having that skill as well as excellent music capabilities will ensure many more career opportunities and financial security. That way they learn to use the best of both worlds,” he said