Journalism of Courage
Celebrated violinist Mandhira de Saram was born in London,finished her schooling in Sri Lanka and got her music education from UK’s University of Oxford,where she was even awarded the Oxford Philomusica Orchestra Award.
Taught by globally-respected muscians such as Igor Petrushevsky,Howard Davis and Levon Chillingirian,Saram has performed as a soloist,chamber musician and as an orchestral violinist in UK and across the globe. Apart from playing violin,she also happens to be a talented pianist. “I would love to play a lot of instruments but I’m not sure what,” says Saram,adding,”The oboe,ukelele and cimbalom are already on my list. I work with composers to try and develop new styles of playing the violin and experimenting with the string quartet textures.”
Pianist Eshantha Peiris is Saram’s contemporary. Raised in Colombo,he has carved a niche for himself,freelancing and collaborating in Sri Lanka. He was halfway through his university education when he realised that he wanted to concentrate only on music. He signed up for a diploma in piano performance from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music,after which,he went on to attend New York Universitys Steinhardt School.
“Different things inspire my music at different times. My personal style is most evident when Im composing or improvising music,” says Peiris,who recently set up a music school in Colombo called Musicmatters. “It is important for music students to perform more often and interact with other musicians regularly. Weve designed our classes in such a way that in a weekly session,students are trained in performance-oriented musical styles,coupled with a background in music theory. Our long-term goal is to nurture a generation of Sri Lankan musicians who value established musical traditions whilst striving towards creative music-making,” he adds.
Peiris currently plays with two bands: Thriloka,a quintet focused on original compositions influenced by progressive rock,jazz forms,Sri Lankan dance-rhythms and the Indian raga system; and Compound Eye,a trio with drummer and ethnomusicologist Sumudi Suraweera and New-Zealand-born double-bassist Isaac Smith from the Frederick Street Light and Sound Exploration Society.
“I am currently studying Hindustani ragas as I have also been exposed to the Carnatic rhythmic structures. I play a lot of improvised music with Thriloka and The Compound Eye,and the Indian classical influences my content. Musicmatters has instructors on staff for Hindustani and Carnatic music. I am always interested in studying any kind of traditional music. At the moment,Bulgarian irregular dance rhythms,Iranian microtonal melodic modes and Indonesian layered musical textures are high up on my wishlist,” says Peiris. (Saram and Peiris will come together for a musical extravaganza on August 7 at 6:30pm,at Mazda Hall,Dastur School,Camp )
