Violin vivce

By Marisa de Silva, Pix by Sarith Pethiyagoda

"Belonging to a musical family is great. When we play together, there's a sort of telepathy there, that's just downright cool. Also, we can never give up music, since we all support each other, and that helps a lot," says the young, talented musician cum singer Dominic Johnpillai, of his multi-talented family.

Although he's been a guest artist at numerous shows before, A Solo Violin Recital by Dominic Johnpillai is his debut performance, scheduled for 7.30 pm, on September 17, at the Russian Centre. The recital is in collaboration with Soundarie David.

Born in New Zealand, the crystal clear, beautifully pure boy soprano sang with the Christchurch Cathedral Choir there. He later came to Sri Lanka around 1999, finished schooling at the Colombo International School last year and is off to the University of Cambridge, UK, at the end of the month to study medicine.

"Coming from an extremely musically talented family, I have great respect for the musicality of both my brother and sister. My brother (Daniel) is an amazing pianist and my sister (Marissa) is an equally amazing writer – she even wrote a full length musical which was performed at the Lionel Wendt last December." Even though he was abroad at the time, Daniel arranged all the music with full orchestral scoring as well! "Thus, it seems only fair that I should be semi-musical as well. I play piano and guitar, and am currently trying to teach myself the trumpet," says the enthusiastic Dominic.

His recital will feature works such as “Bach's E Major Concerto for Violin, 1st movt.” “Haydn, C Major Concerto for Violin, 1st movt.,” “Bartok, Rhapsody for Violin, no. 1, 1st movt.” “Grieg, Sonata for Violin in C Minor, no.3, all 3 movts.”

"To be honest, I've only just recently got into classical music! I've been playing it for some time now (since I was four years old) but was never completely into it. I used to listen to a lot of Billy Joel, Elton John, CCR, Beatles etc., as well as some newer bands like Radiohead and others. Classically, I very much like Grieg's music, as it's extremely passionate and somewhat violent too, thus the reason I'm playing his full sonata," said Dominic enthusiastically.

"I also do a bit of writing on the side. I have only written one semi-serious song that was played on radio when I did Onstage in 2006. But that's about it. I've been trying my hand at string arrangements, but nothing much to write home about so far," he said modestly in relation to any originals in the making.
As for where he sees himself in 10 years time, Dominic has this to say, "Wow! I haven't even thought past this recital yet! Well, probably as a paediatrician in New Zealand or maybe even here, with some time to play a lot of music, and maybe even do some studio recording on the side. It's still a big maybe."

His tutor, violin maestro – Ananda Dabare has been a tremendous teacher, with seemingly infinite talent and experience. "He has moulded me into the violinist I am today. He also introduced me to the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka (SOSL) which has also been an amazing experience. I must thank Ajit Abeyesekera and the Conducting Circle of the SOSL as well, for all I have learned under their batons. Ramya de Livera has also been a great mentor, working with me for different concerts, and sharing her great experience of both piano and violin with me," said Dominic appreciatively.

"My family plays a huge role in my music. The support I get from them is fantastic. I also value their musical input, especially from my brother when he and I play together. They've all been to my concerts, sometimes on multiple nights, to see me play. And though they may have the slightly deflating comment afterwards, I'm really grateful that they're always there," he said with a smile.

Entrance is by programme, for more details call 077-1851254.