Canadian born Sri Lankan pianist, Deepani de Alwis, took to the stage on September 18, at Lionel Wendt Theatre in aid of The Music Project. 

Recipient of the Canadian Licenciate National Gold Medal for Piano in 2015 from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Deepani obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Musical Study from the prestigious Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and over the years she has performed numerous times both in Sri Lanka and abroad. 

This year, she hosted a piano concert with the aim of donating all proceedings towards The Music Project which is a programme aimed at uplifting the lives of children in rural districts through music. 

The Piano recital consisted of 4 pieces from different eras of music.  Deepani began with the Baroque period with a stunning piece by Bach titled ‘Partita No. 6’ that consisted of seven movements all in E minor.  She then moved into the classical era by reciting Beethoven’s ‘Sonata Op 57 Appassionata’, a passionate composition that was bought alive by Deepani. Schumann’s ‘Kreisleriana Op.16’ represented the Romantic era. The piece consisted of eight fantasies of varying tempo and movement.  Lastly, from the modern era, Deepani perfectly executed a beautiful rendition of Debussy’s ‘Image II’. 

Witnessing Deepani perform is truly inspiring. Her recital of 4 stunning pieces from various eras was flawless and well executed and the emotion from each piece was felt by each and every spectator. 

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We caught up with some of the audience members and here is what they thought; 

“I enjoyed the Beethoven very much.  She is a lovely pianist and she gets different emotions out of each piece so that the audience really feels it” – Ramya 

“Deepani is just absolutely brilliant and she is such a perfectionist!” – Shalini (The Music Project) 

“Fantastic. Loved her work” – Mrs. De Silva 

“I liked it a lot. Bach’s piece was really nice” – Viruni 

“It was wonderful. Beethoven was one of my favourites” – Geetha 

“It’s really nice and I think it was pretty cool that she did the entire recital without looking at the music sheet. Beethoven’s piece was really nice” - Suhanya 

“The emotion she put into the playing was great” – Shalini 

“She was pretty amazing. Really enjoyed the Beethoven” – Dushi 

“Excellent and wonderful. I enjoyed everything” – Eric 

“Deepani is amazing and we are so grateful for her for doing this for The Music Project!” – Saluka (The Music Project) 

Photographs by Nisal Baduge