MUMBAI: The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai has been at the forefront of preserving and promoting India’s rich and vibrant artistic heritage over the years.

Heralding a new era, India’s premier cultural institution, the NCPA will successfully complete 50 years of its creation this year. To mark this prodigious milestone, the NCPA has launched a new logo and will host a year-long celebration which will culminate in a grand finale at the end of the year.

Commenting on this special occasion Khushroo N. Suntook, NCPA Chairman said,” We are thrilled to embark on the glorious 50th year journey of NCPA. We have grown exponentially beyond what our founders, JRD Tata and Dr. Jamshed Bhabha had envisioned. It has been a wonderful journey working towards the country’s cultural future throughout these five decades. We are very thankful to all our patrons, employees and partners for their constant love and support.”

The new NCPA logo showcases flowing brushes and myriad colours that merge to create a single representation which celebrates five decades of Performing Arts history. For 50 years the NCPA has been creating, curating and nurturing this experience for the nation: many forms, many disciplines, many icons coming together to craft a cultural edifice that is larger than any one form. This has been the inspiration for the new logo. Each colour of the logo signifies a strong attribute for a vertical such as Vermilion for the passion of Theatre, Yellow for the vivacity of Dance, Green for the fecund possibilities of International Music, Blue for the global reach of Western Music, Purple for the richness of Indian musical heritage.

In this landmark year, the NCPA aims to be the voice of a cultural movement by embodying a larger philosophy - ‘Adding Art in Daily Lives’. The 50th year of the NCPA will be an endeavour to define the next 50 years by cultivating this philosophy. The 50 th year celebration will witness a first of its kind, ten day festival, that will showcase the NCPA as an interactive venue by encompassing performance arts from classical and folk to contemporary acts gathering a large pool of artists, spread across:

Theatre, Music, Dance, Films, Visual Art, Food, Drama, Poetry, Photography amongst others. From big theatre productions, a Jazz Festival, Indian and Western Music/Dance acts, Film screenings inside the venue to open-air orchestras, art installations, food gardens and busking on the periphery, the larger than life festival will allow the public to explore the NCPA as a philosophy and as a venue.

The NCPA has regularly showcased performances and workshops by leading artists from around the country. It has collaborated with various arts organizations and theatres around the globe including the Southbank Centre, Carnegie Hall, National Theatre (London), the Edinburgh Festival, and the Metropolitan Opera (New York). The NCPA Mumbai also regularly welcomes some of the leading orchestras from around the world, including the Vienna Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Bavarian State Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and London Symphony Orchestra, amongst others. The NCPA places great emphasis on education and is developing a reputation as a major centre for training and education in all genres, building on an already well-established programme of workshops, seminars, and special events for families and children. In 2006, the NCPA established the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI), the country’s first and only professional orchestra. Founded by NCPA Chairman Khushroo Suntook and violin virtuoso Marat Bisengaliev, who serves as the Music Director, the SOI regularly performs with some of the world’s leading conductors and soloists.