Musical journey

Bangalore based Neville Bharucha, now 19, continues his upward trajectory in piano proficiency. He came first in the Con Brio All India Piano Competition held at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Bombay from July 12 to 18. The festival was presented by the NCPA and Furtados, the well known piano and music store. The annual event is dedicated to the late John Gomes for his 50-year-long contribution to the development of music. The finals of the all-India contest were held on July 17 and 18, and Bharucha, whose repertoire included works by Haydn, Mozart, Liszt and other composers, was declared the winner, his mother Sanober informed Parsiana by e-mail.

Neville Bharucha: teenage pianist and composer

Bharucha had been runner up at the MUSIQUEST All India Piano competition held in Poona in September 2009 (see "Piano prodigy,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, March 21, 2010). As a child Bharucha exhibited an inclination for Western classical music, starting piano lessons when he was just four years old. By the time he was seven he was composing original short pieces. He is also blessed with perfect pitch, his mother mentions, a fact noted by teachers and musicians who have acknowledged his talent. At age nine he gave his first public piano recital under the aegis of The Bangalore School of Music, which included 10 of his own compositions, the write-up states.

Garnering accolades and awards during his musical journey, Bharucha was invited in December 2010 by the North American Zoroastrian Congress to perform with the World Zoroastrian Symphony Orchestra with distinguished conductor Farobag Cooper. The Press noted that this "inspirational performance was by an exceptional 18-year-old pianist, Neville Bharucha, who traveled from India to attend this congress.”

Bharucha is continuing his piano studies in Bangalore tutored by talented Russian concert pianist Natalia Kapylova, along with his second year Bachelor of Commerce at St Joseph’s College of Commerce. Not limited to classical music, the youngster’s talent was exhibited in Leila Alvares’ acclaimed Broadway musicals in 2010 and 2011, the e-mail mentions.