Tanya Ekanayaka

Tanya Ekanayaka [Tanya Nissani Ilangakkone Ekanayaka] (born 1977) is an internationally acclaimed Sri Lankan concert pianist and composer, trained classically and with a background in Asian and Popular Music. She is also a record producer, musicologist and linguist. She began studying the piano at the age of five, made her début recital at the age of twelve, performed her first concerto at sixteen with the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka as youngest competitor and joint winner of their biennial concerto competition, and has since performed in notable venues in Europe, the United States and Asia.

Contents

• Dr tanya ekanayaka interview on bbc world global news tv on 15 04 2015
• Emisl dr tanya ekanayaka
• References

Her compositions represent original musical genres. Since August 2014, Tanya Ekanayaka has been contracted with Naxos Records (Grand Piano Label), the world's second largest classical music record label. This label launched her debut album of compositions for solo piano composed, performed and produced by her, titled REINVENTIONS: RHAPSODIES FOR PIANO in 2015. The album introduces a musical genre developed by Tanya Ekanayaka and also represents the first album of compositions entirely by a Sri Lankan composer to ever be launched globally by a major record label. The compositions in this album comprise the integration of unusual adaptations of melodies belonging to Sri Lankan indigenous and popular musics (many of which have not been adapted for the piano or harmonised) with musical motifs inspired by the tonality of other works.

Tanya Ekanayaka's composition 'Adahas: Of Wings Of Roots' is also featured in the recent Naxos Records (Grand Piano) release titled 'THE KEY COLLECTION: THREE CENTURIES OF RARE KEYBOARD GEMS' released in 2017.

She is currently working on her second solo album of solo works for the piano also for the same label.

Tanya Ekanayaka’s academic and professional qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Honours degree in English Literature and Linguistics from the University of Peradeniya, a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Linguistics and English Language from The University of Edinburgh, and a Doctorate for interdisciplinary research in Linguistics and Musicology also from The University of Edinburgh. Tanya Ekanayaka is also a Fellow of the Trinity College of Music London (FTCL), and a Licentiate of both the Associated Board of The Royal Schools of Music (LRSM), and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (LGSMD) UK. The Guildhall school awarded her its Professional Performer's Diploma (PPD) in 1999.

Tanya Ekanayaka has been a member of the part-time teaching faculty of The University of Edinburgh since 2007 where she has taught in its Linguistics and Music faculties.

She also developed a pioneering music composition project on a voluntary basis from 2012 to 2014. The project aimed to assist war affected and impoverished Sri Lankan school children recovering from the country's thirty year civil war to articulate their thoughts creatively through original collective musical composition.