MUMBAI: Artie’s Festival returns for its 21st edition after travelling through China, Kazakhstan, the Gulf and, Europe. One of the highlights of the Festival this year is the performance of the co-founder of the festival, Olivier Patey.

Olivier has been performing in India for over 10 years and always looks forward to performing in the country, as he feels the audience here is more receptive. In his own words, “I love to perform in India! It feels very different from Europe where there are so many codes attached to a classical music concert and can be a bit stiff sometimes. Here in India, those codes are not part of the culture, and Indian people are in a way freer to receive the music we play.”

India is culturally a very rich country, plus the pop music scene in India is extremely vibrant. Considering the home-grown music along with the western pop music here, the reception to Western Classical music could be bothersome, but Oliver thinks otherwise. According to his experience, “India has definitely an audience for classical music. I've come here many times, and not a single concert that, I've played here wasn't almost sold out. And more, people who come to our concerts are not there to show off or because they feel they have to appear in such an event like it can happen sometimes in Europe, but just because they absolutely love it. The audience in India has always been extremely warm.”

The programme will be centred on the most famous chamber music for clarinet and strings. As a collaboration between Artie’s Festival and the SOI musicians, Volta Quartet and Emmanuel Christien will join Artie’s for Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht Op. 4, which will be performed in its original string sextet version. The Artie’s Festival was initiated in India a decade ago by Gauthier Herrmann, a well-known Cellist. Oliver can’t thank the founder enough for making him a part of this unique initiative, “I'm honored that Gauthier Herrmann, who founded Artie's Festival here in India 10 years ago, chose and trusted me to build something new in India. It was a huge bet, everything had to be done from scratch, and with the devotion and support of partners and friends from the Puna Music Society, we can now, 10 years later, admire and enjoy everything that has been done to make Artie's Festival very successful in a way that it has become an unmissable event in Indians music lover's calendar.”

The Artie’s Festival will also feature Symphony of India, an orchestra based in India and formed by National Centre of Performing Arts. The artist is thrilled to collaborate with Indian Orchestra, “I'd be delighted to collaborate with Symphony of India. They are the core of classical music here in India on a daily basis. They have a huge role to play, and I'd be happy to help with them and giving Master Classes to music students.”

Born in French city, Lille and studied at the conservatories in Lille and Rueil-Malmaison, Principal clarinettist Olivier Patey has regularly performed in the orchestra of the Opéra de Paris and with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. With multiple awards shining on his shelves like the ARD International Music Competition and the Carl Nielsen International Music Competition, he has worked with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Kammerorchester and the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, as a soloist too. Between 2005 and 2013, Olivier Patey played in the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in Berlin, where he was appointed principal in 2009. He has also been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and (from 2012 to 2013) principal clarinetist of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. In August 2013 he joined the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. With such a deep repertoire, Oliver is sure to stun the audience with his refined music.

Oliver has been visiting India for a long time and apart from performances, he has also been familiar with the rich culture of Indian Classical Music, on which he says, “I have heard of a lot of Indian classical music and probably I am the biggest fan of Anoushka Shankar.”