The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Ben Zander, gave the U.S. premiere of Svara-Yantra, a concerto for violin, tabla, and orchestra on October 17th (Mechanics Hall, Worcester), October 18th (Sanders Theater, Cambridge), October 20th (Jordan Hall, Boston) , and October 21st (Sanders Theater, Cambridge)  2007.  Svara-Yantra featured the virtuoso violinist Joanna Kurkowicz (joannakurkowicz.com) and tabla master Samir Chatterjee (tabla.org).

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"Svara-Yantra stole the show... a terrific piece in which the tradtional symphony is dropped into the middle of the subcontinent, exploding with color."
-Matthew Guerrieri, Boston Globe

"The standing ovation at the end of the piece continued until Korde himself was forced to come to the front and acknowledge the cheering."
-John Zeugner , Worcester Telegram

"Svara-Yantra, a fabulous creation...certainly stole the show for the evening."
-Ranjani Saigal, Lokvani

"We have an amazing opening planned for next season.  The orchestra is giving the American premiere of Svara-Yantra, a dazzling violin concerto by local composer Shirish Korde that combines elements of Western music with instrumental techniques, rhythms, and scales peculiar to the music of India. It was composed especially for our beloved concertmistress Joanna Kurkowicz, who has performed it in Europe and Asia. It is enthralling—I’m completely in love with it and I know everyone who hears it in October will be spellbound."
-Benjamin Zander, Music Director and Conductor, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.

On May 2nd, 2008, the Boston Musica Viva (bmv.org) gave the world premiere of Songs of Ecstasy featuring Zorana Sadiq, soprano, chamber ensemble and Indian classical dancer, Wendy Jehlen, at Tsai Performance Center at Boston University.  This cycle of songs is based on the mystical poetry of Kabir, Rabia, Faiz, and St. Cecilia of Sienna.  Zorana Sadiq also premiered his collection of songs: Ghazals in the Music Toronto on February 14th in Toronto, Canada. The song cycle was commissioned by the Jebediah Foundation New Music Commissions.

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"Soaring operatic vocal lines against dense, glinting harmonic masses in the six instruments...the evenings's most satisfying performace."
-Matthew Guerrieri, Boston Globe

"These are striking affairs, compelling with strong rhythmic appeal. It brought the house down.
-Ken Winters, The Toronto Globe and Mail

Peggy Pierson, the renowned oboist, and Windsor Music will premiere this new work on their series in Lexington, MA in the spring of 2009.

The Da Capo Chamber Players of New York played the commissioned work, Blue Topeng 2, for chamber ensemble and Balinese Gamelan soloists in a series of concerts in the spring of 2008 in New York

Shirish Korde was awarded a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in the summer of 2007.  The Massachusetts Cultural Council recognized 33 artists from more than 1000 applicants in the disciplines of film/video, music composition, photography, theater, and sculpture.  Five composers were honored from a field of approximately 200 applicants.

In the fall of 2007 he was also a recipient of a Fromm Foundation Commission for the Phoolan Devi project and a new music commission from the Jebediah Foundation for Songs of Ecstasy, which was premiered at Tsai Performance Center in Boston on May 2, 2008 .