He didn’t give up on his main passion
Harsha Abeyaratne always loved playing the piano, but it just wouldn’t do for a career, not in good old Lanka. After years of almost settling for second best though, he came back to his dream in his mid-twenties and hasn’t changed direction since.
Harsha: Back in Colombo to give classical musical lovers a repertoire of his own favourite compositions for piano
At 15, Abeyaratne was faced with a difficult choice, and from a practical standpoint, he had no option but to quit taking piano lessons and exams and pursue his schoolwork and sports. He had studied piano for over ten years, but the burden of having to go overseas at a young age if he was to pursue a career in music held him back from doing the thing he in fact loved the most. It was only some five years later, while pursuing more predictable studies in the US, that he began practising the piano again.
It was an uphill task to remaster a skill he had stopped practising so long ago, but by sheer determination he not only got back to where he’d left off, but became better, much better. It was only at the relatively late age of 26, two years after he turned back to the piano, that Abeyaratne finally took the plunge, enrolling as a graduate student of piano performance at Indiana University.
“In a sense, I am a late bloomer,” he said in an email interview, “but I am so glad that I made the decision to go with my main passion”.
Dr. Harsha Abeyaratne has just finished his twelfth year as a fulltime music professor at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio. He is not only Associate Professor of Music, but also coordinator of the keyboard programme at the university. Having made his debut at Carnegie Hall in 2012, he now plays solo concerts on a regular basis, across the United States and internationally. He is an adjudicator for state piano competitions and a winner of a number of research grants and awards for his work.
Abeyaratne’s desire is to inspire people to follow their hearts, no matter how late it may seem to do so, because he did, and the results convinced him it was never too late.
“I see much growth in the arts [in Sri Lanka] than when I was young,” he says. To a musician who had to delay his dream because his home environment was not conducive to building on it, it is “a very positive sign” that “there seems to be more value placed in music, art, theatre, etc.,” and that “more people from overseas (not necessarily Sri Lankans) seem to be coming to Sri Lanka to perform and present shows.”
The last time Colombo heard Abeyaratne was in 2010 when he performed Rachmaninoff’s First Piano Concerto with the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka. He also gave a solo recital at the Lionel Wendt in 2004. Both experiences he remembers with fond enthusiasm.
“The experience was great and I had a very appreciative audience,” he said. This time around, Dr. Abeyaratne’s focus is to bring us a repertoire of his own favourite compositions for piano. “It is Liszt’s music that speaks to my soul the most,” he begins explaining how he “would have played an all Liszt recital”. Instead, this concert, aptly titled ‘The Liszt Connection’ is a collection of pieces by Liszt or composers who are in one way or another connected to him. The recital will feature the works of many of Liszt’s better known contemporaries, including Mozart’s Sonata K. 330, Schumann’s S
nata Op. 22, Chopin’s Scherzo No. 1, as well as Liszt’s own Mephisto Waltz.All proceeds from ‘The Liszt Connection’ will go towards ‘Project Joy’ and the establishment of a new ward at the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital, especially geared towards early intervention in the case of neurological disorders in children.The project is close to Abeyaratne’s heart for a number of reasons.
“When I was asked if I was interested in doing this, I said “yes” without any hesitations,” he says. Not only have two of his close relatives served as pediatricians at Lady Ridgeway, but a third, his grandfather Dr. L. O. Abeyaratne, was in fact the first pediatrician the hospital hired. Playing ‘The Liszt Connection’ for the benefit of Lady Ridgeway is thus not merely a good thing Abeyaratne is doing, but something which for him is “just right”.
JC Entertainments presents ‘The Liszt Connection,’ an evening of classical music with piano virtuoso Harsha Abeyaratne today, Sunday, July 5 at the Lionel Wendt theatre at 7 p.m. Tickets are priced Rs.3,500, Rs.2,500, Rs.1,500 and Rs.500. Call 777775159 for more information.