The modern world has a lot of space for those who can create music digitally. It is our duty to offer our state university students the choice of learning this skill. There is still the traditional music degree that is offered to our students, and I asked the UGC for them to be taken through a special window. They too are given knowledge of technology. Then I introduced a new degree called “BA (Hons.) in Creative Music Technology and Production”
Professor Pradeep Ratnayake and his renowned Pradeepanjalee series returns to the Lionel Wendt stage on 21st May 2024 after a hiatus. Experience a fusion of classical and innovative music, blending Eastern and Western traditions, featuring internationally-acclaimed musicians. This eighteenth installment promises to be a captivating journey, showcasing the best of Sri Lankan folk, Hindustani classical, Jazz, and Blues. Don’t miss this extraordinary performance with Pradeep Ratnayake and an ensemble of exceptional Sri Lankan musicians, including Harsha Makalanda, Dr. Ravibandu Vidyapathi, Alston Joachim, Shiraz Nooramith, Peshala Manoj, and Isuru Perera.
Q: Professor Ratnayake, after a hiatus of a few years, the Pradeepanjalee series is returning to the Lionel Wendt stage. What inspired you to bring it back, and what can audiences expect from this upcoming performance?
For more than a decade I worked very hard in the University of Sri Jayewardenepura to establish new courses in music and finally, a new department. I had seen how much and how quickly the music industry was changing and it is our responsibility to make sure that our students are equipped with the necessary skills to meet the new challenges. Accordingly, I was able to establish a new department in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences called The Department of Music and Creative Technology and was its Founder-Head. We made our own degree programmes, drawing up many new syllabi and courses that brought in the aspect of technology into music. All this took much planning and hard work. There was no time to perform – and I missed that very badly – but I owed a responsibility to my university and this country as an academic-musician. Now I am not the Head anymore and have the head-space to think of performing again – and therefore is the new Pradeepanjalee concert coming to you in May.
In this, I was greatly helped by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies which held a Pradeepanjalee concert there on March 1st, this year. I think all the seats there went within a few hours. It was Mario Gomez, its Director, who wanted me to perform there and made the process of starting again very easy.
Q: The Pradeepanjalee series has been performed at prestigious venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Musikverein. How do you feel about bringing this renowned series back to Sri Lanka’s audiences?
One owes a duty to one’s own country first – and I am very happy to play here, as appreciation of good music is very important to the development of a people. I have always been performing here – from the age of 10, really, that is in the 1970s. This is the eighteenth concert of the Pradeepanjaee Series that I started after graduating from the University of Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, India. Music has a very expansive reach – unlike words – and people can greatly benefit by appreciating it. I have always been involved in instrumental music even when I was very young, in both radio and TV here.
Q: Could you tell us more about the concept behind the Pradeepanjalee series, which combines classical music with innovative elements from both Eastern and Western traditions?
I don’t think there was a concert series done by a solo classical musician in Sri Lanka before this. Except for symphony orchestras and such organizations, there had been nothing that a musician classically trained could come and do here long term. If I wanted to perform, there was nothing to do but start my own series of concerts here. And I also wanted to make my own work. When I learnt classical Hindustani music, I was very much at home there – but I also wanted to see if I could bring in some elements of my own country into it. We had to create a platform to bring out new music like that. Pradeepanjalee was born through that desire.
Q: Your upcoming performance features some of the best musicians in Sri Lanka. How do you select musicians to collaborate with, and what do you hope to achieve through these collaborations?
It’s with the best musicians that you can improvise anyway – and most have been my friends and collaborators for a very very long time. For example, the most senior musicians who will take the stage on the 21st are those who performed with me for the very first Pradeepanjalee concert that was held at the Goethe Institute in 1997. Harsha Makalanda, Ravibandu Vidyapathi are masters of their own instruments and bring much maturity and skill to their performances. Alston and Shiraz are super jazz performers. Then Peshala and Isuru are wonderful tabla players.
It’s a process of learning from each other and respecting each other, while we enjoy performing together.
What I hope to achieve through these collaborations is the creation of a new sound – the sitar with the piano, for instance, or the sitar with the Getabera, instead of the tabla. These are exciting things to do. And new things to do – and these combinations can sound wonderful. All good music is connected in the end – and there is beauty in unity.
Q: Your journey as a musician has taken you from Santiniketan to Columbia University and now as a Professor of Music at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. How has this diverse background influenced your approach to music?
Learning from both the East and West had shown me what good can exist in all traditions. Each has a lot to offer. Columbia University is groundbreaking in innovations – even to get admission there required them considering my music and seeing if they wanted me in. I worked in the Music Department and the Computer Music Centre there and saw the new music that was being created with a lot of new technology. This was also good for me as an academic. I could come and try to start something like that here – though we may not have the resources that they have. But a start was made to make state of the art labs here too at our new department.
As a performer I gained much too. There was a Pradeepanjalee Concert held at Carnegie Hall and it was wonderful to have my own professors from Columbia University, like pianist Ben Waltzer, mandolin player Terry Pender, guitarist Arthur Kampella join me on stage to perform my music. When good musicians meet, whether its East or West hardly matters. To appreciate all types of art is what I learnt from these experiences.
Q: Pradeepanjalee XVIII will include a mix of classical ragas, compositions by Pandit Ravi Shankar and your own classics such as “Wine-Coloured Moon” and “Home Soil.” Can you share with us the significance of these pieces in your repertoire?
I always start the Pradeepanjalee concerts by playing homage to the classical tradition that created me. I first learnt under the Sri Lakan sitar gurudev Devage Master, who taught me Hindustani classical music and I went to India after that to learn under Professor Indranil Bhattacharya and then Sabyasachi Sarkar. Pandit Ravi Shankar is from the same gharana that I was in – so he is my hero. And he too experimented with new things with the sitar. As a tribute to him I am playing a composition by him. The rest are compositions in which I bring different elements of music in. “Home Soil” and “Roots” has a lot of Sri Lankan folk music, Wine Coloured Moon has Jazz elements and so on. So it is a good mix of what I represent with my music.
Q: This series will also feature your daughters performing alongside you, paying tribute to the late Sri Lankan composer Sarath Fernando. How does it feel to collaborate with your family members and what does this tribute mean to you?
It feels wonderful. Mithu and Sajani are both learning Western classical music and attempting the ATCL level in both piano and voice. Cello and violin they started later and are part of the senior and junior orchestras here. They can also play by ear and therefore, we will be collaborating on some work together. Sarath Fernando is a musician my whole family loves and respects. The girls grew up with his song Nil Ahas Tale. It was sung to them and they sang it themselves. So playing that together would be a good tribute to his memory we thought – he passed away in the UK a few weeks ago. That’s a sad loss.
Q: Pradeepanjalee XVIII is made possible by a collective of patrons who were inspired by your previous performance. How does it feel to have such support, and what message do you hope to convey through your music to the wider audience?
It feels wonderful to have friends like this. I have been very lucky to have this right throughout my musical life. After the first Pradeepanjaee Concert at Goethe Institute, it was a school friend who sponsored my first concert at the Lionel Wendt. Then the Carnegie Hall Concert was the Sri Lankan friend group I had in New York and Weehawken. Then this concert is sponsored by two friends who came to see the concert at the ICES and really wanted to hear this music played for a bigger audience – Dr. Santhushya Fernando paid for the hall, and another friend who was there helped with some funding, the Sunethra Bandaranaike Trust sponsored the piano. So here we are.
Q: As a pioneer in introducing computer music to Sri Lanka’s state university system, how do you see the intersection of technology and traditional music shaping the future of music education and performance?
The modern world has a lot of space for those who can create music digitally. It is our duty to offer our state university students the choice of learning this skill. There is still the traditional music degree that is offered to our students, and I asked the UGC for them to be taken through a special window. They too are given knowledge of technology. Then I introduced a new degree called “BA (Hons.) in Creative Music Technology and Production”. Anyone from any stream can apply for this and come in if they have the necessary qualifications.
Q: Finally, what advice do you have for aspiring musicians and students who are interested in pursuing a career in music, especially in today’s rapidly changing music industry?
I would like to tell them that it is important to learn the new technologies that are current in the world of that discipline. And whatever you do, you have to be dedicated and committed to it. And as a musician you have to keep practising. You should never stop. And above all, love the music you play and try new things if you feel like it.
Pix courtesy Pradeep Ratnayake
