Mirror Magazine -Feel the passion of his music

For I think that I should let you know right now as I take this stage,
That you wouldn't want to find yourself a victim of my notorious cell-phone-rage.
'Cause if I hear the Bond theme or Mozart or that goddamn William Tell,
It’ll be the Final Countdown for you and your cell.
- From ‘Cell Phone Song’

Those who saw him play Johannes Brahms in his previous concert, walked away delighted with the experience and impressed with the young man who delivered it. This time’s concert, however, promises to create an entirely different experience – one which will showcase not only his skill as a musician, but his gifts as a composer, as well. Are we looking forward to it? You betchya.

You see, there’s something about Eshantha’s playing that simply brings music alive – he plays with verve and passion, and in the end he gets you, draws you in and inspires you. He believes in the power of music, and how it can be used to invoke a mood or convey a subtle shift in emotion – the very basis of composing for the movies (which he says is what he’s aiming for). It helps that he has a sense of humour, and that he enjoys a wide variety of genres.

Gifted and energetic, Eshantha is still exploring his choices; he says he hasn’t settled into a distinct style of his own. It’s hard to pigeon hole Eshantha – sure he’s a very talented classical pianist, but then again he’s also been caught red-fingered, writing synth-rock anthems and actually playing the keyboards backwards. “I’m young enough to experiment a little,” he says philosophically. That attitude is reflected in the variety of musical genres represented in the concert. The recital programme consists mainly of chamber-sized classical and jazz compositions written by Eshantha himself within the last four years, with some of the works having been composed/arranged especially for the concert’s performers.

The talented performer line-up comprises several stars from Sri Lanka’s emerging generation of musicians, including vocalists Anjuli Gunaratne and Eranga Goonetilleke, string instrumentalists Namali Fernando (cello), Amal Abeysekera (viola) and Satish Casie Chetty (violin), flautists Sureka Amerasinghe, Tilanka Jayamanne, Ruvindra Angunawela, Natasha Senanayake, and Johann Peiris (alto flute), drummer Sumudi Suraweera, bass guitarist Alston Joachim, and the composer himself at the piano. Also featured will be a composition each from Sri Lankan composer Natasha Senanayake and Brazilian composer Edmundo Villani-Cortes.

“I see this as the beginning,” says Eshantha, who despite the occasional bout of nerves seems, well, rather composed. He’s glad to see other people playing his music and believes that it is not only inevitable, but right that they will interpret it in their own ways. It’s easy to forget that Eshantha is still rather young – he’s only 20 – and he’s already smack bang in the middle of a Master of Arts degree in Music Composition and Scoring for Film and Multimedia at New York University.

He is also an instructor on NYU’s Piano Faculty. Fortunately, he’s not the stuffy kind, and is mainly involved with teaching students from non-musical disciplines on how to play pop/rock music, while conveniently bypassing the rigours of a classical-based training.

With a Diploma in Piano Performance already under his belt, Eshantha graduated summa cum laude in January 2006 (he had earlier been voted ‘student of the year’ by the music department’s student body), and can now boast a Bachelors’ degree (sponsored by Prima Ceylon Ltd.) in Piano Performance.

As a performer, Eshantha accompanies a lot of university-student recitals, in addition to occupying the piano position in the NYU Symphony Orchestra, the NYU Jazz Repertoire Orchestra and the NYU composers’ ensemble (where he also functions as conductor).

His compositions have been performed by ensembles such as the Quintet of the Americas, NYU jazz choir and NYU composers’ ensemble. His orchestral composition ‘26/12/2004: South-East Asia’ was selected as a finalist in The Foundation Orchestra Association’s Annual Composition Competition.

His flute-piano duo with Brazilian flautist Celina Charlier is performed regularly; their debut commercial CD release ‘Villani In The Village’ has aired both on Sri Lankan and Brazilian radio. He continues to sing with the NYU jazz choir, spends his Sri Lankan summer vacations harmonising with the Old Joes Choir, and is a founding member of the NYC-based vocal jazz quintet ‘The 2-5-1s.’

‘Composed: The Music of Eshantha J. Peiris’ will be presented at the Russian Cultural Centre Hall on August 18 and 19, 2006, at 7.15 p.m. Tickets are priced at Rs. 450 and Rs.1000 and are available at the Russian Cultural Centre. The main sponsor is F & G Property Developers (Pvt.) Ltd.