‘Twelve Piano Prisms‘ the newest solo album of works for the piano composed, performed and produced by Sri Lankan-British concert composer-pianist Dr. Tanya Ekanayaka was launched worldwide by Naxos Records, the world’s largest independent record label, under its Grand Piano label, on 14th September.
The album was recorded by Roderick Buchanan-Dunlop. 
The twelve works/prisms in the album evolved between 2016 and 2017 and correspond to the twelve primary notes of the keyboard. They have been inspired not only by classical styles and indigenous world music but also by contemporary pop, rock and film music. The album extends a concept introduced by Dr. Ekanayaka in her debut album ‘Reinventions: Rhapsodies for Piano’ released worldwide by Naxos Records in 2015 while also introducing a new concept.
While autobiographical, the prisms blend unusual adaptations of traditional melodies of Dr. Ekanayaka’s homeland Sri Lanka and countries she has been associated with musically. These countries include Armenia, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Among the Sri Lankan melodies re-presented in this album are eight vannams; the remaining ten vannams were represented in her first album ‘Reinventions: Rhapsodies for Piano’.
‘The term prism is intended to reflect the manner in which sounds stemming from diverse cultures, eras and the very core of my being, meld, transform and refract through the piano to emerge as new narratives’ says Dr. Ekanayaka.
The album and its first prism, ‘E Flat – July 2016/17’ were featured on Essential Classics of BBC Radio 3 on 12th September ahead of its release.
The structure and style of Dr. Ekanayaka’s music is also influenced by her ambidexterity, multilingualism and training in Linguistics. Her works, as yet, have not been scored in any form – instead, they reside precisely frozen in her memory.
For details about ‘Twelve Piano Prisms’ and Dr. Ekanayaka’s work, click here:
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=GP785
https://www.naxos.com/person/Tanya_Ekanayaka/232400.htm
Sinhala_Man / September 20, 2018
She’s certainly quite an eyeful.
.
But seriously, I found that by following links I get to things like this:
.
https://www.youtube.com/user/tanyaekanayaka
.
But before that, I found that there are many other “Colombo Telegraph articles” on her. Listened to quite a bot of her, but have to get some sleep now.
.
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/live-recording-of-dr-tanya-ekanayaka-in-concert-for-the-pianists-of-the-world-series-in-london/
/