Mandhira continues the de Saram musical artistry

Mandhira de Saram, the young soloist at the Symphony Orchestra’s concert to be held tomorrow July 30 at the Ladies College Hall at 7 pm, hails from a family of notable musicians. Her father is the well known pianist Druvi de Saram and her uncle is the internationally renowned cellist Rohan de Saram.

Her mother, Sharmini, was an accomplished flautist and her maternal grandmother, Evangeline de Fonsek, was a pillar of the SOSL, who played violin and viola with the orchestra and was a well known and much loved violin teacher.

Mandhira, who graduated with first class honours from the University of Oxford leading several orchestras and chamber groups, works as a freelance violinist. She appears frequently as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral violinist around UK and abroad. Her repertoire is varied consisting of standard classical works as well as new and experimental repertoire. Mandhira is the founding member of the recently formed Ligeti Quartet (www.ligetiquartet.com), a string quartet which is devoted to promoting 20th and 21st Century music.

As Soloist with the SOSL, Mandhira will perform the last of Mozart’s five violin concertos, the Turkish. This concerto, which is considered Mozart’s greatest concerto for violin is nicknamed for its alla turca sections in the last movement. The Turkish concerto is described as one that “captivates us with its matchless elegance of conception and execution, the suavity of its orchestration, and its luxurious delight in pure melody.” Conducted by Eshantha Peiris, the programme on July 30 begins with Beethoven’s dramatic Coriolan Overture and ends with one of Haydn’s most popular symphonies- the 94th, also known as the Surprise symphony.

The SOSL rarely presents a programme consisting only of works from the classical period and in this one evening the audience will hear some of the best known works of three great composers, whose contribution to classical music can truly be said to have shaped its course.