13 February 2017
If we play a game of word association, what comes to mind when ‘Classical Music’ is mentioned? The typical response might be that it refers to ‘serious’ and ‘authoritative’ music such as opera, concertos, sonatas, fugues and so forth.
With its innovative classical music specialism, LASALLE’s School of Contemporary Music is redefining this perception of ‘Classical’ with panache—and maybe even some pop riffs. Classical Music Lecturer Frank DeMeglio explains more.
At LASALLE, the genre of Classical Music is a specialism offered at both the Diploma and BA(Hons) levels. However, students gain wide-ranging knowledge of other forms of music as the College prides itself on training well-rounded, confident musicians who are able to perform in a gamut of musical situations. This means that Jazz, Pop, Electronic, Folk and Rock will also feature in the course of a student’s studies. With this broad outlook, students are more prepared to innovate and collaborate on projects once they enter into their specialisms.
For instance, Diploma in Music students who opt to study Classical Theory are taught ways to analyse and understand Western Classical scores. This therefore equips them with the skills to re-create their own examples of tonal music, and to seek out examples from their performance repertoire to analyse.
BA(Hons) Music students who take on the Classical Performance specialism develop their improvisational skills by first understanding the basic structure and style of Western Classical music, and then attempting to invent (on-the-spot) an original piece of their own.
Sounds daunting? Eshan Denipitiya, a final year BA(Hons) Music student specialising in Classical Performance, shares in this interview that this is all part of the learning process at LASALLE, and students reap the benefits from the breadth and depth of exposure.
How has your specialism aided you in playing the piano?
The Classical Performance specialism at LASALLE is very different from other music conservatories – firstly, in terms of the greater range of skills taught to us, and also in how the curriculum encourages exploration. Personally, Fusion music is something I’d always been fascinated by. It allows us to create, say, a pop tune to be played in the style of Bach or Mozart! What this does then is to give us different means of engaging with our audience as ‘the classics’ now appear more relatable, more contemporary. So as I’m working on my technique, interpretation and overall understanding of Classical Music. I’m also widening my artistic scope, as I cross different genres of music together.
Eshan Denipitiya at LASALLE’s Piano Voyage 2016 where he integrates stylistic elements of Classical Music into popular songs like The Beatles’s Hey Jude and Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean.
How have the improvisation classes at LASALLE helped you as a musician?
Through such classes, I experienced a better level of music understanding, such as how a piece should be interpreted in the intended manner by the composer. It is through knowing what limitations exist that doors to infinite possibilities can be opened. This has helped me in my own compositions, where I am able to come up with different tunes within various boundaries.
Improvisation has helped me to bring out the true capabilities of the piano. While Classical music teaches me almost everything a piano is capable of producing, improvisation skills assist me in building bridges between different genres of music – like how the Sri Lankan Folk tunes which I very much love are infused with the level of artistry that Classical music naturally inherits.
Do you feel confident as an artist to pursue your dream of bringing Sri Lankan music to the world stage?
As a musician, I feel that studying at LASALLE is the perfect stepping stone for me. Through this holistic approach to our studies, we gain insight into various subjects such as music production, the music business, composition, ensemble playing, as well as interdisciplinary collaborations with other departments such as dance or musical theatre.
All these are amazing opportunities to build my confidence as a musician. And since music from Sri Lanka is yet unknown to many, I hope to use what I’ve experienced and learnt to make others more aware of the beauty of Sri Lankan music.
Eshan's piano cover of Queen's greatest hits - We Will Rock You / Bohemian Rhapsody / We Are The Champions. This cover even caught the attention of Queen's Brian May who shared it on his social media.
