Samvad

Igino Giovanni Brunori and Virginia Nicoli of Samvad are an innovative musical duo crafting new sounds from ancient materials. Their performances are meditative journeys through a rich landscape of melody and rhythm, using bansuri (Indian bamboo flute), silver flute and saxophone. They play with tabla or pakhawaj (drums) and love to collaborate with musicians from all over the world.In whatever arrangement, Samvad’s original compositions and improvisations are founded on the most rigorous traditions of Indian Classical music, Dhrupad. Together with their teachers, the Gundecha Brothers (Dhrupad singers) they have forged their own musical language in which Raga (melodic frames of indian classical music) and tala (rhythm cycles) remain the core features. In this sense, their music is less of a fusion and more of a dynamic expression of these traditional principles.Samvad means to ‘speak together’ or ‘accord’ in Sanskrit. There is much accord between the art and life of Igino and Virginia. Music brought them together and continues to be the driving force in their lives. Music is their life and life is their music. Their shared passions give a special tone to their sonic creations, at once deeply connected to ancient traditions and still pulsing with the present.

The exceptional quality of Samvad’s music derives from their attention to sound quality, to micro-tonal detail and to the mysterious dialog between the two. East and West, ancient music and contemporary sounds meet in a new interpretation of tradition and modernity.

“The frame of the raga is the portal to infinity, the way to reach freedom within boundaries” –Ramakant Gundecha.

Virginia Nicoli dreamed of playing the flute since she was three years old. She often listened to a Dean Evans CD called “Ocean Dreams” in which different flutes were accompanied by harp and ocean sounds, this was her first inspiration to become a flautist. She finally began to play at six and at ten began her silver flute studies. She studied privately for five years with different teachers and participated in seminars run by Reza Najfar. She studied for three years at the” Accademia della Musica” in Milan with Lucio Nanni, she is also a graduate from the visual arts steiner school “Progetto Michelangelo” in Milano. She has a masters in Music Therapy from the “Modello Benenzon”.Igino Giovanni Brunori began to play saxophone at seven. He studied at the “Acadamia Musicale Provincale Francesco Consoli” in Lumezzane with teacher and maestro Fabiano Redolfi and graduated at fourteen. He has a degree in International Political Science from the University of Milan. He then continued his musical studies with the saxophone teacher Gianni Alberti at the Conservatorium of Brescia.Samvad met in 2006 through music and began their musical journey towards India, together in both life and music. In 2010 they graduated together from the Consevatorium “Arrigo Pedrollo” of Vicenzia in “tradizioni musicali extraeuropei ad indirizzo indologico” with the award for most outstanding graduates. They presented their final thesis after extensive research in India interviewing great musicians and musicologists.

In Italy they studied with the great maestro of Indian classical music Gianni Richizzi, who dedicated over thirty years of his life to the study and teaching of Indian Classical Music. They also participated in many workshops with great maestros such as Hariprasad Chaurasia.

Every year they continue their studies in India at the Dhrupad Sasthan of Bhopal with the Gundecha Brothers, where they deepen their knowledge of the art of Dhrupad and dedicate several months totally to music. Thanks to the suggestions of their Gurus they have started to use their western instruments to play Dhrupad, creating a unique sound. The microtonal movements and ornamentations of this style of music have brought them to the physical limits of their instruments whilst leading them to discover new ways of playing. It is no longer the instrument that plays, but the music itself that plays the instrument. To those who ask: ” how can you play dhrupad on these instruments?” they answer:  there is no limit to music, only the mind…
They deepen the study of Bansuri with Pandit Rajendra Prasanna and his son Rishab Prasanna.
Samvad now perform in Italy and abroad.