Prof Preethi de Silva to deliver Pulimood Oration

Prof Emerita Preethi de Silva will deliver the 21st Susan George Pulimood Memorial Oration at the Jeremias Dias Hall of Visakha Vidyalaya at 5 pm on July 23. It will be open to the public.

The subject of the memorial oration will be 'why music matters'.

A past pupil of Visakha Vidyalaya whose interest in music was nurtured at school, Prof Preethi de Silva first pursued her higher studies at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and later at the Hochschule fur Musik, Berlin now known as the Universitat der Kunste, from where she obtained her diploma for performance and teaching. She continued her studies at the Yale University, USA where she earned the prestigious degrees of Master of Musical Arts and the Doctor of Musical Arts.

She will be sharing her special interest in historical keyboard instruments with the audience, opening a window to a bygone era when the music of Bach, Muthel, Mozart and many others flourished under the patronage of the 17th century European nobility. She was awarded the Adele Mellon Prize for distinguished contributions to scholarship for research. She specialized in the ancient musical instrument the Harpsichord which preceded the piano as we know it today.

The Pulimood Oration has been held annually since 1991 in memory of past principal of Visakha Vidyalaya, Mrs Susan George Pulimood. Her dedication and vision in the late 1940's changed the direction of education at Visakha. Her enthusiasm for teaching and the motivation she provided her students and teachers alike bore excellent results.

They elevated the school to a 'super grade' position which it continues to enjoy even today.