Cross-cultural cross currents: Jasdeep Singh Degun with Fantasia Orchestra in Terry Riley's iconic In C performed by string orchestra, piano, sitar and tabla at Smith Square Hall

Jasdeep Singh Degun, Gurdain Rayatt, Fantasia Orchestra, Tom Fetherstonhaugh - Smith Square Hall (Photo: Pablo Strong)

Terry Riley: In C, Jasdeep Singh Degun, Philip Glass, Rameau; Jasdeep Singh Degun, Gurdain Rayatt, Fantasia Orchestra, Tom Fetherstonhaugh; Smith Square Hall
Reviewed 10 April 2026

Minimalism, classical Indian music & French Baroque in an entrancing mix which saw the iconic In C including sitar and tabla alongside Jasdeep Singh Degun's own music in performances full of infectious joy

Sitar player and composer Jasdeep Sing Degun joined Tom Fetherstonhaugh and Fantasia Orchestra for a concert at Smith Square Hall on Friday 10 April 2026 with a wide-ranging programme which saw Degun, on sitar, and tabla player Gurdain Rayatt joining the orchestra in Terry Riley's iconic In C alongside music by Degun, Philip Glass and Rameau.

The orchestra consisted of an ensemble of 21 strings with Fetherstonhaugh playing the piano for the first half. We began with Degun's In Search of Redemption from his first album, Anomaly. We began with Fetherstonhaugh playing a gentle melody on the piano, then as sitar and strings joined they played the same melody in free heterophonic fashion. As the piece developed we became aware of Degun, the composer, adding layers each one with a different timbre and playing subtly different rhythms. The work ended with a fast riff for sitar (Degun) and tabla (Rayatt) over a string drone.

Jasdeep Singh Degun, Fantasia Orchestra - Smith Square Hall (Photo: Pablo Strong)

Terry Riley's In C is not so much a composed piece of music as a recipe. The 'instructions' consist of 53 modules that fit on a single page, each module being a short musical phrase. The work can be played by any combination of instruments and Riley suggests about three dozen performers, each acting individually. Here we had the 21 strings plus Fetherstonhaugh on piano, Degun on sitar and Rayatt on tabla. The result was entrancing. The presence of sitar and tabla in the sound mix inflected things towards Minimalism's Indian influences, but overall there was amazing textural variety with wide variations in rhythm and timbre. It is quite a long piece, after all it takes some two dozen people quite a time to work their way individually through 53 motifs whilst creating something musical. What Fantasia Orchestra achieved was something that managed to be compelling and rather magical.

After the interval, with Fetherstonhaugh now conducting, we began with the Thunderstorm from Rameau's Platée (without sitar and tabla). Fast and vivid cascading scales were played with great verve and elan. Degun and Rayatt then return to join the orchestra for Degun's Rageshri. Here we had fast melodic lines played in heterophonic fashion, full of catchy rhythms. There were spotlight moments for sitar with some bravura playing from Degun and for tabla, leading into a long solo section for the two (with the strings silent). Here it became apparent that Degun and Rayatt were long-time collaborators as they had fun 'duelling'. The strings finally rejoined them for an exciting finish.

Then we came to more Rameau, this time Tristes apprêts from Castor et Pollux with Degun playing the vocal line on the sitar. He is trained in gayaki ang-a, a lyrical sitar style that emulates the human voice, and here we got a real sense of an Indian classical singer inflecting Rameau's vocal line in distinctive ways. Rameau was present but heard through a different, rather entrancing filter that focused on the ornamentation and the transitions between notes.

Degun and Rayatt took a back seat for the next piece, Philip Glass's Echorus which featured two solo violins (Millie Ashton and Hana Mizuta-Spencer). The work was written in 1995 for Yehudi Menuhin. Things began with the soloists in elaborate arpeggios over chugging violas, then things expanded with longer ripieno violin notes over the texture. Whilst the sound worlds are vastly different, Glass's use of multiple layers, each one different, linked back (or forward) to Degun's own writing.

We ended with one of Degun's stand-out pieces, his sitar concerto Arya which was written for the Orchestra of Opera North (where he was artist in residence) in 2020. We heard the second movement. Degun explained that whilst 'aria' in Western usage means a sung vocal piece with accompaniment, in Hindi (and Sanskrit) it means precious gem. We began with sitar over throbbing strings with the solo line only gradually getting more prominent. As the orchestral material became more rhythmic, Degun's sitar took over and dazzled us with flurries of scales leading to a solo moment in free rhapsodic style leading to more spectacular finger-work. After a moment for Rayatt's tabla, things finished with a virtuoso duel for the two of them.

Jasdeep Singh Degun, Gurdain Rayatt, Fantasia Orchestra, Tom Fetherstonhaugh - Smith Square Hall (Photo: Pablo Strong)

Degun is a traditionally trained sitar player, and his most recent disc Jogkauns (on Real World Records) is structured as a traditional Indian classical concert, presenting the entirety of the music within a single raag. But when I interviewed him in 2023 [see my interview] he described himself as just a'random guy from Leeds', and collaboration has always been important. For this concert we heard various strands of Degun's performing career alongside the enterprising Fantasia Orchestra. Degun and Featherstonhaugh's eclectic programme had a real daring to it but also a feeling of enjoyment. You sensed that In C was a real challenge, but the performers sheer joy at the end was completely entrancing.

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