The warm and authentic sound of India and the coolly formal, intellectual beauty of the West: For Igor Yuzefovich, Lancaster Symphony Orchestra's Moscow-born concertmaster, blending them into one is like tying together different worlds.

"It's hard. It's very, very hard," Yuzefovich said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C. "The trick is to find balance. Sometimes you blend the sounds together, and sometimes the people playing the duet have to play off each other.

"This is a meeting and a mixing of two very different cultures, and the music does a wonderful job of reflecting that."

Yuzefovich and Indian-born composer and violinist L. Subramaniam, will perform the North American premiere of Subramaniam's Double Violin Concerto at the symphony's upcoming "Masterworks From East & West" concert, which is a focal point of the monthlong Mela festival celebrating the culture of India.

The concert also features Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, the "Pathetique," and Beethoven's Overture to "The Creatures of Prometheus."

Symphony director Stephen Gunzenhauser took special care in choosing the music for this concert.

"Dr. L. Subramaniam is one of the foremost composers in his country, and finding Western pieces that would work well with his Double Violin Concerto was quite a challenge," Gunzenhauser said.

"My goal (with the Tchaikovsky piece) was to couple Dr. Subramaniam's work with one of the greatest works of the West," he said. "And since we were working with 'titans,' I thought including Beethoven's Overture to 'The Creatures of Prometheus' would be appropriate."

Gunzenhauser first heard about Subramaniam's work from blues harmonica player Corky Siegel, who performed William Russo's "Street Music Concerto" with the symphony in October 2004.

"Corky Siegel just raved about Dr. Subramaniam, and he even gave me a DVD of the world premiere of the 'Double Violin Concerto,'" Gunzenhauser said. "As soon as I heard it, I just thought 'This Dr. Subramaniam guy is fantastic. We have to somehow find a way to work with him.'"

Yuzefovich also speaks highly of Subramaniam's music.

"I like the fact that the piece is so unusual. You don't find a lot of compositions in the classical repertoire that include both a traditional classical music violin and an Indian violin," he said. "With their separate sounds, I think, you really get a feel for both cultures."

The Indian violin is structurally the same as its Western cousin, though it is tuned differently and rests on the shoulder or chest of the musician, whereas the Western violin tucks under the chin.

Musicologists believe the instrument made its way to the Indian subcontinent in the late 18th century through military bandsmen in the East India Company, many of whom were Irish.

"This (concerto) was written for both the Indian violin and the classical violin, so already, as soon as the curtain opens, the audience knows the sounds of the concerto are being separated into two worlds," Yuzefovich said. "And through the playing, it's something like a dance, where, at times, the sounds come together to mix, while at other times they fly off into their separate corners where we, as performers, emphasize their differences.

"It's a fascinating and very moving piece."
"Masterworks From East & West" runs Friday through Sunday, March 4, at Fulton Opera House, 12 N. Prince St. Friday's opening-night performance begins at 8 p.m. with Saturday performances at 3 and 8 p.m. The Sunday performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $21 to $55 and can be purchased by calling the Fulton box office at 397-7425, or order online at www.thefulton.org.