Thursday Mar 10, 2022

Nurturing a Decade of Global Musicians in India as a Queer White Male with Dr. Adam Greig

Scottish-born musician and academic Dr. Adam Greig found himself being thrown into the deeper end of building one of India's most innovative institutes from the ground up when a chance classified ad in the UK after his gap year spent working and teaching at a Buddhist Monastery in India ended up in an interview he wasn't really counting on. Shortly before his sexual orientation was re-classified as 'illegal' in India after his arrival.

In the decade that followed the KMMC churned out a few generations of musicians embodying unique artistic profiles that have been a giant step in making the impossible possible: integrating eastern and western traditions of education in a manner that is authentic, inclusive, and globally relevant, blurring lines between social idiosyncracies and building bridges that set stunning examples of what the future of the arts can be when treated with the right mix of sensitivity and passion.

Collaborations with the likes of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Queensland University of Technology, Berklee College of Music, ROLI, Apple, Google and Nokia, representing the institution on platforms as diverse as YouTube Originals ARRived, to Netflix series 'The Creative Indians' alongside founder of the KMMC, the iconic, oscar-winning composer

Dr. A. R. Rahman (with whom he has been coordinating the AR Rahman Foundation on some of India's most relevant social projects, including the signing of an MoU between KMMC and Nagaland to support further cross-supportive musical activities), all stand testimony to this mammoth growth.

In this long-form conversation, I catch up with my dear friend and colleague to look back on the decade that's been since our last encounter, white privilege and the LGBTQ community in India and the possible manner in which all of this might co-relate to the potential risks of a post-colonial love affair with victimhood.

This episode is brought to you by:

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Music by: www.everynowheremusic.com

Text: www.tlwrites.com

Produced by T.L. Mazumdar

Recorded on a Zoom L8 mixer kindly sponsored by:

https://www.sound-service.eu