An evening of Classical music

Alliance Française de Colombo will present an evening of Classical music by Japanese Pianist Chiho Akaishi and Rioo Kuratou (Soprano) on March 14 at the Alliance Francaise de Colombo auditorium at Barnes Place, Colombo 7.

Eshantha Peiris, One of the best pianists in Sri Lanka will perform as the guest artiste for the evening. This will be an excellent "Piano Four- Hands" by Chiho and Eshantha. Their program includes Camille Saint-Saens: "Carnaval des Animaux" and Claude Debussy at the Alliance Française de Colombo. Eshantha Peiris is the founder and co-director of "Musicmatters", an institution in Colombo dedicated to innovative music-making and creative music education.

He had his secondary education at St. Joseph's College, Colombo 10 and graduated from New York University with Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music Performance and Composition. His music teachers over the years include Ramya de Livera Perera, Ananda Dabare, and Eduardus As a musician, Eshantha is interested in understanding various musical styles in their original context, and using this knowledge to bring a fresh perspective to contemporary performance.

This approach influences his work as a collaborative pianist and conductor (of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka, and the vocal ensembles The Old Joes Choir and Contempo), and with the quintet Baliphonics, which experiments with Sri Lankan ritual music.

Eshantha's discography includes two albums of Brazilian classical music recorded with flautist Celina Charlier, and two albums of original fusion music recorded with the band 'Thriloka'. His solo piano album 'Global Rhythms Reimagined' is due for release in August 2014.

Chiho Akaishi hails from Shikzuoko, a City in between Nagoya Tokyo. She teaches Piano Music at the Shikzuoko University and Junior College and is a regular Classical Music Concert performer in Japan. She has studied Classical piano Music at the Kunitachi College of Music from where she graduated. She has accompanied many famous vocalists instrumental solo players and played the music of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann. Chopin, Mendelssohn and Debussy.

She has also accompanied choirs and played Religious Music Since 1997, every year. She has held a Concert titled 'Classical Music Ceylon Tea' in Shizuoka, Japan.

In March 2011 she held a concert in Colombo at Alliance Française de Colombo auditorium with Soprano Chihoko Otsuka, which was a great success.

Their performance for the evening will feature Piano Solo - Eshantha Peiris, Baritone Solo - Rioo Kuratou, Piano Solo - Chiho Akaishi, Piano Four Hands - Eshantha Peiris and Chiho Akaishi - Claude Debussy, Piano Four Hands - Eshantha Peiris and Chiho Akaishi - Camille Saint-Saens.

Admission is free and limited. Invitations are available at Alliance Française de Colombo from March 7 at Barnes Place, Colombo 7.