ORCHESTRAS AND CHOIRS

South Asian Music Youth Orchestra

South Asian Music Youth Orchestra

The  South Asian Youth Music Orchestra (SAMYO) is the UK’s National South Asian Youth Orchestra, the first of its kind in the world. The orchestra uniquely combines musicians and compositions from the North and South Indian classical traditions, and the most talented young performers of the country.

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Introducing... Mithila Sarma, 17

Mithila Sarma, 17, from East London, has been a member of the National South Asian Youth Orchestra for five years. She plays the veena, a plucked string instrument from South India.

“I’ve been playing the veena for five to seven years. I started off playing the violin aged four-and-a-half because my cousin played it. But the veena was the one I gelled with straight away. Everyone connects with one instrument, I don’t know why, it was the one that suited me.

“I practice for about half an hour to an hour a day, it depends on what else is happening. When I am really stressed it’s easy to go and sit down with the veena for half an hour. You don’t have to think when you play.

“My relationship with the orchestra has changed over the years. I used to come and sit in rehearsal and be the youngest but now I’m one of the oldest. When I first came I didn’t have a clue about North Indian music. My family is from Sri Lanka and we know about South Indian music. But now I am helping the younger guys to learn.

“I’ve met so many new people from different backgrounds and places. When I first came there were lots of people my age and we are really good friends now. To be on a one-to-one basis with so many talented musicians and composers is quite a privilege.

“Our retreats are pretty intense, you see how good people are and you want to be as good. Because it’s such a team thing you have to do your best, if you don’t give it your all then the piece will go out of place. You have to make sure you know what you are doing.

“The music is open to our interpretation. As an orchestra we can say, ‘we don’t like that’ or ‘can we play this three times?’. If you know a piece and you know there is something that can make it better, that’s really inspiring. Nobody says ‘no’, because that’s Indian music. It’s so adaptable.

“Performing is great. We have done so many and every show has been different. Sometimes you know they have really loved you and that makes you feel really good that you are part of this orchestra.

“I want to study law at uni and keep music as a hobby, and do performances and teaching. Making it academic might take the fun out of it. But I would never stop playing.”

Visit the official SAMYO website
www.samyo.org