Eshan’s Christmas favourites
The cover of Eshan’s ‘Carol of the Bells’ release
Christmas is just around the corner and Eshan Denipitiya has a little surprise for his fans that is bound to get you feeling all Christmassy. The 23-year-old musician who became something of an overnight sensation when his video ‘Rhapsody of Queen’ was shared by the great Brian May (lead guitarist of Queen) himself, has a new Christmas release.
Eshan’s latest video, a virtuosic medley of carols is centered on the ‘Carol of the bells’. ‘Carol of the bells’ is his favourite Christmas carol and he felt that he could best express his love for it through the piano. He explains the video packs in a range of surprise elements and also pays tribute to that much loved Christmas hymn ‘Silent Night’, in its 200th anniversary year.
The medley is a mash up of Christmas carols that are intricately bound together with the ‘Carol of the bells’. It expresses just how Eshan feels about Christmas — that sense of meaning and joy that the season brings.
And this Christmas will certainly be an extra special one for Eshan, owing to his latest success which he remains grateful for. He tells us his future plan is to showcase the piano in a manner that reaches out not just to a classical audience, but also to everyone else as well.
Eshan grew up amidst a musical background that all started with his grandfather Patrick Denipitiya and later continued with his father, the renowned Mahesh Denipitiya. He recalls being sent off to piano lessons at the age of six, to gain a classical training in the instrument under Dharmi Mudalige and Ruvini Hapugalle. By then Eshan was simply in love with the piano.
“Musically my school also helped, because I had quite a lot exposure,” he tells us. He was an all-round student having been a part of the orchestra, choir and the prefects body of St Peter’s College. In fact in 2014, he was also awarded the best all round student of the year.
In 2009, Eshan also took part in ‘Sri Lankan Life’, a competition for instrumental music. He recalls performing alongside traditional drummerNupathi Nilambara and adds that the competition was one of his biggest moments to date. His debut solo performance came at the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka’s (SOSL)Young Soloists concert in 2016.
Currently a piano teacher at Aureus Academy, Singapore, Eshan graduated top of his Bachelor of Arts in Music class in Lasalle, College of the Arts, Singapore in May 2018. Under the guidance of his teacher Frank DeMeglio, “I was experimenting quite a lot because the school ( Lasalle) gave me a broad musical knowledge,” he explains. Eshan adds that he was able to build on his piano skills with that knowledge.
Focusing on studying classical music,which gave him an in-depth understanding as to how much the piano could achieve, he uses this knowledge to play a range of pop music numbers, which he believes, brings out what the piano is truly capable of.
“The piano is an orchestra of its own,” he states.
His Queen rendition – a medley of Queen hits on Youtube released on October 27 is what had both the local and foreign media buzzing. “I have always listened to Queen because I loved how their band wasn’t limited to a particular sound. There was nothing boxing them in and that inspired me,” he says.
He first came up with the arrangement back in 2017 and originally it was meant to be a two piano piece. In fact Eshan performed it together with his friend Paul Soh at the annual piano concert at Lasalle.
But with the release of the movie ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ this year, he looked to turn the arrangement to one piano, which was a challenge in itself. But it almost wrote itself since it was “very classically based” and great on its own, he recalls.
When Brian May, Queen’s renowned guitarist shared the video, Eshan was busy teaching at the Aureus Academy and says his phone was just bursting with notifications. “It took me quite by surprise,” he says, describing the moment as surreal.
May had probably liked his cover, because it would have shown him that the band’s music had reached not just countries like Sri Lanka, but also Eshan’s generation as well, he feels.
As he looks forward to making more music his own way, Eshan is very grateful for the support of his family and friends. “The more I go on this journey, the more I need them to ground me,” he says.
Both Eshan’s videos can be accessed on –Carol of the bells- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EXcplOgBm0
Rhapsody of Queen-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkEKJIDoDog&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0Eng0l-IFkRkaB0FNdw-LUoWFiiUtZ8a3tLNmji6wFAYkNjOallhDnuvA
They have been captured and edited by Diana Chong and Eldon Joseph Theadore.