"Reena Esmail's childhood in Los Angeles had two soundtracks: the Western classical music her parents loved, and the old, scratchy Bollywood tapes her paternal grandparents would play over and over. Those multicultural influences shaped what would become the driving question of her work: how do you invite people from different cultures onto the same stage to build a relationship and create music together?"
"Artists are often the people in our communities who bring people together in ways that are creative, spontaneous, and surprising. That's true in the East Bay neighborhood of Point Richmond, where a local artist has created dozens of miniature fairy houses brimming with the personality of their imaginary inhabitants. In this story from April, Pauline Bartolone set out to explore these hidden treasures, and meet the person who created them."
Reena Esmail grew up in Los Angeles immersed in Western classical music and old Bollywood tapes, which shaped a focus on cross-cultural musical collaboration. Her compositions place Western classical musicians in dialogue with Indian artists, connecting violinists with sitar players and tabla drummers with Western singers. She has composed with unhoused singers from Skid Row and earned performances by major orchestras and choirs worldwide. In Point Richmond, a local artist created dozens of miniature fairy houses that reflect imaginative inhabitants and function as hidden, community-building treasures that invite discovery.
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