In 1996, thirty-some children came to the UK for a nation-wide tour, which included performances in Westminster Abbey and the cathedrals at Wells and Oxford. In May, 2000, fifteen selected children returned to England to perform at schools and churches with an orchestral programme that included works by Vivaldi and Mozart, Bengali songs and dances, and a new modern piece for cello and orchestra written specially for them by the foremost Indian composer, Naresh Sohal, which they performed with their founder and director, Anup Kumar Biswas, as soloist.

1996 UK Tour

The children and a few members of staff entertain an English audience, dancing to the songs of the famous Bengali poet and composer, Rabindranath Tagore, in a Gloucestershire garden. This concert tour of Britain raised enough money for the Mathieson Music Trust to be able to buy the plot of ground for the siting of the present school.

 

Mathieson Music School 2000 UK Tour

160 concerts covering 8,000 miles in three months

Concert performances nearly every day, with Anup Kumar Biswas as soloist	The little ones take time off to play games with English children	The school chef from Calcutta prepares Indian buffets for the concert guests
Anup with tour cook (left) and the then headmistress, Agnes Sarkar while performing at the Lido, Cheltenham	Anup playing an Indian raga with pupils from the school , on the 2000 UK Tour. The programme included both Western and Indian classical music.	Former Mathieson pupil Nirupam Halder joined the 2000 tour as guest soloist.

Particularly gifted pupils are funded to come to the UK to attend specialised schools, to further their musical training. Nirupam Halder (above right) was sent by the Mathieson Music School to Chethams School of Music in Manchester, where he soon thereafter received a full scholarship. He has now graduated and won entrance to The Royal Academy of Music where he is currently continuing his studies to be a professional violinist.

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