Chicago Sinfonietta opens its 2025-2026 season with Bollywood & Beyond

This concert program was presented in Naperville on October 17 and in Chicago on October 18.

Chicago Sinfonietta, guest conductor Roger Kalia, and guest vocalist Anuradha “Juju” Palakurthi. Photo by Natalia Dagenhart

Light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance, that’s the meaning of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. This Friday and Saturday Chicago Sinfonietta lit up Naperville and Chicago with the sounds of Bollywood hits, Taiwanese music, and a French fairy tale, all in one night. This Diwali celebration crossed the borders of countries and nations and demonstrated the power of light, music, and kindness.  This concert program took place on October 17 at Wentz Concert Hall in Naperville and on October 18 at Studebaker Theater in Chicago.

“I couldn’t be more excited to open Chicago Sinfonietta’s 25/26 Season with Bollywood & Beyond,” wrote Sidney Jackson, the Chicago Sinfonietta’s President and CEO. “As my first season opener as CEO, this program is especially meaningful. It reflects everything I admire about the Sinfonietta; bold artistry, cultural connection, and the way music can bring people together.”

The Chicago Sinfonietta’s Bollywood & Beyond concert program took the audience on a trip from Mumbai to Paris to Taipei right before Diwali, the Festival of Lights. It started with Symphony Masala, “a celebration of 70 years of iconic Bollywood songs which were shaped by influences as wide-ranging as swing, disco, and Hollywood musicals. The result is a rich masala, or spice blend, that resonates deeply in daily Indian life, sung at weddings, echoed in marketplaces, and cherished communities around the globe.”

This part of the program featured Anuradha “Juju” Palakurthi, who is an acclaimed Bollywood singer and the serving Chairperson of MIT’s Heritage Arts of South Asia (MITHAS). Juju is also a co-host of a weekly Radio Music India show on WLYN 1360, which educates and entertains listeners on the Carnatic & Hindustani classical roots of Indian Film music.

Indian American conductor Roger Kalia led the orchestra the entire first part of the program. Kalia is praised by The Republic for bringing a “fresh view to classical music.” He is a versatile communicator who brings unique and unmistakable energy to the podium. Recently profiled by Symphony Magazine in recognition of his innovative programming, Kalia has been hailed as “leading with passionate intensity and a clear beat” as well as being “one to watch” by Long Beach Gazette.

Certainly, selections from his groundbreaking show, Symphony Masala, became a great start for the Chicago Sinfonietta’s 2025-26 season. Symphony Masala is a celebration of Indian culture via a history-spanning performance of Bollywood songs in their first-ever arrangement for Western instruments. Music from films such as Don, Namak Halal, and Dil Se shimmers with the power of a full orchestra.

After intermission, the audience had a great opportunity to appreciate the music of Tyzen Hsiao, a composer often known as the “Rachmaninoff of Taiwan” for his lush harmonies and lyrical melodies. It is a tender tribute to Taiwan. Chicago Sinfonietta presented his piece called The Angel from Formosa. The composer was born in Taiwan’s city of Kaohsiung in 1938. Hsiao has been known as an influential composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher in the Taiwanese musical community since the late 1960s. His work, The Angel from Formosa, is on many levels a work of remembrance.

Reena Esmail’s Teen Murti demonstrated to the audience the blend of Indian ragas, melodic frameworks that shape mood and character, with Western strings. Teen Murti means three statues, figures, or representations in Hindi. “Though not directly based on the sculptures, this work shares their title as it is centered around three large musical ‘figures’ that are adjoined by short interludes – similar to the idea behind Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition,” is written in Esmail’s program notes for this piece. “It lays out three tableaux: each is rooted in a specific raag and its Hindustani melodic tradition, and those melodies are interwoven using a more Western technique.”

Mother Goose Suite by French composer Maurice Ravel was another masterpiece presented during this concert program. It spins fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty and Tom Thumb into enchanting soundscapes. Originally written as a piano duet and later orchestrated, it is a captivating work that brings to life the magical world of fairy tales. It is based on the beloved stories of Charles Perrault and includes five movements, each representing a different fairy tale. Ravel's masterful musical storytelling and his delicate handling of orchestral colors amazed listeners and demonstrated the composer’s ability to express vivid imagery and emotions through music.

The program ended with An-Lun Huang’s Saibei Dance, written in 1975 during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976, a turbulent chapter in China’s history. “Rather than dwell on hardship, Huang drew inspiration from folk rhythms of the northern plateau near Inner Mongolia, creating music full of bounding energy and celebration,” is noted on the website of the Chicago Sinfonietta. “As Artistic Director Mei-Ann Chen notes, it reminds us that even in difficult times, we can always find joy.”

Natalia Dagenhart