Composing Across Cultures - Reena Esmail

What does “home” sound like to you? For composer Reena Esmail, this was a question of invention, not recollection. Today, she is celebrated for the seamless interplay between her Western and Hindustani influences in her music, but her journey through craft, culture, and creativity was winding and often treacherous. 

In this episode of HearTOGETHER, composer Reena Esmail joins host Tori Marchiony for a heartfelt conversation about growing up between two cultures and two religions, the toxicity of competition, and the importance of constantly challenging her own worldview. 

Music in this episode:

• ESMAIL, Piano Trio - Suzana Bartal - piano, Peter Myers - cello, Vijay Gupta - violin
• ESMAIL, This Love Between Us: Yale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard415, David Hill, conductor -- with Rabindra Goswami, sitar and Ramu Pandit, tabla
• ESMAIL, Take What You Need  - Street Symphony and Street Symphony Chamber Singers -- Shelley Fox, soprano
• ESMAIL, Interglow: Salastina Music Society - Maia Jasper White - violin  Kevin Kumar - violin Meredith Crawford - viola   Yoshika Masuda - cello HyeJin Kim - piano  Benjamin Smolen - flute
• ESMAIL, Zeher - Brooklyn Rider - Johnny Gandelsman, violin, Colin Jacobsen, violin, Nicholas Cords, viola, Michael Nicolas, cello

Thanks to 
Noel Dior & Tim German, Editorial Council 
Teng Chen, Audio Engineer