Conductor Maria Badstue, Creator and Founder
Innovation, passion, and versatility are the hallmarks of India born Danish conductor Maria Badstue, praised as “one of the best young Danish conductors of…
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The INDK Symphonic Collaboration programmes in 2023, 2024, and 2025 have been made possible through an artistic collaboration between the Symphony Orchestra of India and the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai, and important Danish institutions including the The Danish Cultural Institute, Danish Embassy, Slots and Kulturstyrelsen / The Agency for Culture and Castles, Danish Chamber Players, Danish National Academy of Music, Royal Danish Academy of Music and a number of private Danish foundations and sponsors.
INDK Symphonic Collaboration is the brainchild of conductor Maria Badstue.
Born in India, adopted, raised, and living in Denmark, Maestra Badstue has an innovative, multi-cultural approach to the world. Possessing a deep appreciation for the unique offerings each country and its culture offer, and after delving more into the backgrounds of symphonic, chamber, and operatic works from around the world, she became interested in creating an artistic collaboration between the two cultures that are an innate part of her life. She dreamed of creating a program that would bring together and highlight the artistic expression of her two heritages.
In 2017, Ms. Badstue’s growing international guesting relationships expanded to include the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI). After giving a speech at the Danish Cultural Institute about her experiences at the Royal Opera House of Mumbai where she conducted Il Matrimonio Segreto by Cimarosa she was approached by various supporters and foundations and encouraged to establish a symphonic collaboration between Denmark and India. With the encouragement she received, Ms. Badstue then created INDK SYMPHONIC COLLABORATION, a collaborative music venture between India and Denmark, the focus of which is to strengthen relations between the two countries through culture, specifically, through the universal language of music.
India’s premier cultural institution, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai, took on the mantle of host, and a series of initiatives were developed to be held there. Originally planned to begin several years ago, INDK was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The program was able to begin in the summer of 2023 with Maestra Badstue working with both orchestras for a week and then conducting the SOI at NCPA’s TATA Theatre on July 28, 2023, in a program featuring works by Biber, Beethoven, Mathews, and Sibelius. The second concert occurred on April 12, 2024, and featured works by Copland, Mahler and Beethoven. The third programme will take place in TBA 2025 with the concert at TBA of NCPA, Mumbai on TBA.