A.R. Rahman, who's scored more than 100 films, shares stories and music at the Orpheum, October 5
Slumdog Millionaire composer joins the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at Vancouver International Film Festival keynote event
VIFF and VSO present An Evening with A.R. Rahman: Stories and Music from His Career at the Orpheum on October 5
IN THE WEST, A.R. Rahman is perhaps best known for his unforgettable soundtrack for Slumdog Millionaire—a frenetic orchestral score that won the composer and multi-instrumentalist a well-deserved Oscar for capturing the rush of urban India.
But he’s been creating sonic worlds for films for several decades, crossing from Bollywood to Hollywood and back again. Which should make his appearance at the Vancouver International Film Festival marquee event, An Evening with A.R. Rahman: Stories and Music from His Career, well worth catching—the international star providing a keynote and performance with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the Orpheum.
The massive international star will tell his life story and play music spanning his career, in which he’s created the soundtracks for more than 100 movies and has produced sales of more than 100 million records. There’s a lot to tell: he’s been playing piano and harmonium since he was five, he formed a rock band as a teen, and he travelled to study classical music at London’s Trinity College of Music before heading back to India to write advertising jingles. His first film score, for the 1992 Tamil hit Roja, won him instant praise, launching his cinematic career.
Fans of the Slumdog soundtrack know his profound skill at fusing Eastern classical music with Western orchestral scores—think sweeping violins and driving tablas—as well as drawing from other globe-spanning genres and electronic music.
At the VIFF-VSO show, expect a full multimedia affair, with the composer offering insights to his process and sharing stories from his life, as well as performing segments of his scores live with the VSO, accompanied by clips from some of his best-loved films projected onto the Orpheum’s big screen.
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