Wherever he performed, he got a standing ovation !

by Sri Sangabo Corea

There was pin drop silence in Carnegie Hall as the audience listened to the awesome wizardry of one of the most celebrated pianists in the world as he struck the last note to end a concert that could not have been any better than what it was, and as the pianist took a bow the audience gave him a standing ovation. The pianist on stage was none other than Rohan De Silva, a Sri Lankan !

Since that memorable concert, Rohan De Silva has got a standing ovation at the end of every performance in London, U.S.A. and Europe in partnership with violin virtuosos, Itzhak Perlman, Cho-Liang Lin, Midori, Joshua Bell, Benny Kim, Kyoko Takezawa, Vadim Repin, Gil Shaham, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Julian Rachlin reaching for excellence in highly acclaimed performances at recital venues all over the world.

With these and other artistes he has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Centre's Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Centre, Library of Congress, Philadelphia Academy of Music, Ambassador Theatre in Los Angeles, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall in London, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Morzarteum in Salzburg and La Scala in Milan and Tel-Aviv, Israel. His festival appearances include the Aspen, Interlochen, Manchester, Ravinia and Schleswig-Holstein festivals, the Pacific Music Destival in Sapporo, Japan and the Wellington Arts Festival in New Zealand. Rohan De Silva, is now in Sri Lanka to perform for the Sunera Foundation with two of his partners in concert, Stefan Milenkovich (violinist) and Anahid Aznavoorian (cellist), at the Cinnamon Grand tomorrow to a full house.

This will be the third time that Stefan Milenkovich and Rohan are performing to raise funds for the Sunera Foundation. Impressed by the projects conducted by the Foundation to help the differently abled persons of all ethnic and religious backgrounds from all parts of Sri Lanka. "We are only too happy and willing to play our part in such a worthy cause" was what Rohan had to say when we met.

Readers, I am sure will want to know how Rohan came to be one of the most celebrated pianists, very much in demand all over the world. Rohan showed a tremendous love for piano and violin music in particular from his early years, obviously inherited from his mother, the late Primrose De Silva, a highly respected piano teacher, who conducted classes, 6 days a week from 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. with a 1 hour break for lunch.

Whenever the lessons were in progress and the piano was not in use, 3 year old Rohan would try his hand at playing a piece of music with just one finger. Needless to say, the mother, who was so passionately fond of her only child was thrilled to see the son's flair for music.

As a versatile pianist herself, there is nothing more that she would have wanted for her son. Rohan's first piano teacher was his mother who spent much of her time in teaching him the right technique, knowing well that the son had an ear for music.

Rohan's father who was the Manager at the Coconut Development Authority was a lover of music himself and in response to the mother's request sent little Rohan to Mrs Mary Bilimoria for his violin lessons.

When Rohan was 5 years old he sat for his first exam conducted by the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music, London and the Trinity College of Music, London, obtaining the highest marks and continued to score the highest marks and clinch the first place in every exam right up to the L.R.S.M. (Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music) finals.

At 14 years, he topped the list by scoring the highest marks in both violin and piano and won the scholarship to further his studies in violin and piano at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Being the youngest candidate in South East Asia, and declared too young, the scholarship was reserved until he was old enough to go to London and was advised till then to continue his studies at Issipatana College.

Young Rohan was devastated when he lost his mother in September '73 and soon after passing his G.C.E. O Levels he utilised the full scholarship that was held in reserve for 2 years and found his way to the Royal Academy of Music, London, although it was painful to leave behind his father who, after the mother's demise, was the driving force behind him.

He stayed with a Sri Lankan family during the first two years and moved over to the home of another Sri Lankan family for three years. He spent 6 years at the Royal Academy of Music, London as a student of Hamish Milne, Sydney Griller and Wilfred Parry.

While in London he received many awards including the Grover Bennett Scholarship, the Christian Carpenter Prize, the Martin Music Scholarship, the Harold Craxton Award for advanced study in England and on graduation, the Chappell Gold Medal for the Best Overall Performance at the Royal Academy.

He was the first recipient of a special Scholarship in the arts from the President's Fund in Sri Lanka when President J. R. Jayewardene gave Rohan a full tuition scholarship to The Julliard School, New York City, the most prestigious performing arts institution in the world for music, dance and drama.

To enter The Julliard School, one had to go through a strict audition in the presence of the entire piano faculty and Rohan was the first Sri Lankan to succeed. Here, he obtained (a) A Diploma (b) A Post Graduate Diploma and (c) Both, his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, studying piano with Martin Canin and chamber music with Felix Galimir.

During this time Rohan cultivated a tremendous interest in collaborating with instrumentalists (mainly violin and cello) and was fortunate in being admitted to the Studio of the late Dorothy DeLay, the most famous violin pedagogue in the world.

He was awarded a special prize as The Best Accompanist at the 1990 Ninth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and recently received the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artiste Award presented to him by Itzhak Perlman at the 2005 Classical Recording Foundation Awards Ceremony at Carnegie Hall.

Rohan, joined the Collaborative Arts and Chamber Music Faculty of The Julliard School in 1991 and in 1992 was awarded honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. In 2001, he joined the faculty at the Ishikawa Music Academy in Japan where he gave masterclasses in collaborative piano.

Radio and Television credits include "The Tonight Show" with Midori, CNN's "ShowbiZ Today", NHK Television in Japan, National Public Radio, WQXR and WNYC in New York and Berlin Radio. He has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, CBS/SONY Classical, Collins Classics in London and RCA Victor.

Rohan has this to say about Dorothy DeLay: "She played a major role in guiding my destiny to be acknowledged as one of the most sought after collaborative pianists in the music world. Through her influence and guidance I had the rare opportunity of meeting my present colleague and partner, the world renowned violinist, Itzhak Perlman.

Very recently, I had the distinction of combining with Itzhak Perlman (violin) and Pinchas Zukerman (violin and viola) in April and May in a highly successful duo recital tour in New York's Lincoln Centre, Washington's Kennedy Centre, Boston Symphony Hall, Chicago Orchestra Hall, Miami Jackie Gleason Threatre and in Canada, at the National Centre for Arts."

Rohan's first encounter with Itzhak Perlman was in 1991 when his then pianist, the late Samuel Sanders was indisposed and he needed a pianist of his expectation to fill in.

As Perlman had listened to Rohan in Concert several times and with recommendations from the late Isacc Stern, a legendary violinist in his time and Dorothy DeLay, he contacted Rohan and requested him to fill in for Samuel Sanders. From then onwards, Rohan never looked back and combined meticulously with the maestro.

"America, is certainly a land full of opportunities that gave me the much needed exposure to forge ahead in quest of my goals and aspirations. Nothing comes easily and I have worked hard to get to where I am, and enjoying every moment of it. I am proud to be a Sri Lankan and love my country immensely.

That explains why I visit my motherland as many as 3 to 4 times, each year. For me, it is stimulating to meet my numerous friends and relatives.

I have occasionally played with the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka, performed for the British Council with Ashan Pillai, the Sri Lankan born violinist, presently the principal violinist of the Barcelona Symphony in Spain and I have participated in workshops arranged by the British Council and the Education Department."

"I am not sure as to how many in my country will know that I played at the Grammmy Awards Night at Staples Centre in Los Angeles, viewed by millions all over the world. It was an extraordinary experience, mixing around with world celebrities and getting to know them. "

In 2002, Rohan received the Immigrant Achievement Award presented by the New York and Washinton Lawyers' Association in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Arts in America.

Previous recipients of this prestigious award have been Placido Domingo, Midori and John Shalikashvilli. Rohan has played before a distinguished audience and been introduced to Prince Charles, the Duchess of Glouchester, late Princess Magaret, President Da Silva of Brazil, Hillary Clinton, Michael Bloomberg, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Crown Prince of Japan, Naruhito and Princess Masako, James Wolfenson, our own Presidents, J. R. Jayewardene and Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe.

The former Head of the World Bank, when he visited Sri Lanka following the Tsunami was pleasantly surprised to discover that Rohan was a Sri Lankan.

"I cannot express my grief that my mother did not live to see my accomplishments. I can imagine how her face would have lit up to see her son living up and perhaps surpassing her expectations. My father, before he passed away in 2002 was able to see me perform at my debut with the Japanese violinist, Kyoto Takezawa at Carnegie Hall in New York.

I firmly believe that both my mother and father are watching me, every step of the way and zealously protecting their one and only child. My schedule is booked 2 years in advance. I am ever so grateful to my parents for all that they did to get me where I am now."

Rohan De Silva, despite his fame is a simple unassuming Sri Lankan whose lifestyle is very much Sinhalese and down to earth. He loves to eat food that is Sri Lankan, and discards the cutlery to settle down eating with his fingers. It is amazing that a celebrity of his calibre chats most of the time in Sinhala when he is here and immensely enjoys everything that is Sri Lankan.

Above all this, what is most loveable about Rohan is that he has no airs about him, no foreign accent at all when talking, enjoys being simple and unassuming and is proud to be a Sri Lankan.

"I talk about the breathtaking beauty of my country and the friendliness of our people, whenever I have conversation with the different nationalities I meet. It is a gateway to build relationships. When you listen to news around the world you realize that the world we live in is in shambles.

It is my fervent endeavour, through the medium of music to instil love and respect for peace and understanding amongst people, which is the need of today."

Every Sri Lankan, must indeed be proud that this little country has produced a celebrity who has the ability to inspire the intelligentsia of the highly developed world of classical music to rise to their feet and applaud the piano wizardry of a son of this soil Rohan De Silva.