About the same time that Germany invaded Belgium, French violinist and conductor Phillipe Sandré was working up a different tune in Calcutta (now Kolkata).
Armed with his violin, he raised a squad of pupils and in the autumn of 1915, when World War I was into its second year, set up The Calcutta School of Music (CSM), pioneering Western classical music education in India.
As the world remembers World War I on its centenary, The CSM, with more than 1,000 students, celebrates its 100 years as an icon of the city’s classical culture.
Anuradha Sharma 