We came across a very talented Trintian who composes and plays his own music. This young Trinity Mozart is Hasitha Epakande from grade 12. We first got to hear Hasitha’s playing on an Instagram post and thought that he deserves a bit of recognition.
Being an interested young chap in Western Music, Hasitha first started to play a piano in grade 6. Eventually he completed IWMS music exams up to Grade V and bought a piano while he was in grade 9. Hasitha says that he watched so many classical music videos and was influenced by the compositions and their composers. Although we have compared Hasitha to Mozart, his all time favourite composers are Beethoven and Liszt!
A modern day composer
Hasitha has his compositions uploaded on Musescore, an online website where music can be put into score sheets with playback and download options for visitors. To this date, he has completed 4 piano compositions and 1 orchestral composition:
A committed pianist
Hasitha improved his technique with the help of his teachers and by watching videos of technical studies of different composers, and of course by practising a lot!
“Always maintain a natural hand technique which is neither a Stiff one nor an Over – Relaxed one.” – says Hasitha
For those who study music, you will see that Hasitha does like to improvise on the piano, making his style of playing a bit unique, which also means that he does break few rules in Western Music similar to Jazz composers.
He likes both Eastern and Western Music and also sings. At the Sri Lanka Festival of Music, Dance and Speech 2019, Hasitha became the All Island Winner of the Piano Solo (Own Choice), and at the same competition, he also received the London College of Music Trophy for the Best Outstanding Piano Solo.
Hasitha is grateful to all those who have supported him and continues to do so throughout his music journey. He specially thanks his parents, his brother (who also happens to be a talented singer!), his Western Music teachers: Mrs L.C.N.C Surendrakumar, Mrs K George and Mrs L. I. Hettige, his friends Rahal, Pamuditha, Mark and Shehan and many more.
Hasitha is studying for his ALs in the Physical Science stream.
“Let your feelings flow through the instrument, neither over-relaxing nor straining, but naturally.” – Hasitha
Appreciation over competition
In a society where every sport and entertainment activity is considered a competition, with few judges making the decisions, we have taken quite a different approach in recognizing and appreciating the talents of young Trinitians and giving them the motivation of ‘becoming best at what they do’.
We hope this would be the first of many posts to appear on the website in the future! If you know of a Trinitian or a group talented in music or any other activity, write to us via our feedback form on the College website. We always try our best to highlight every group and individual in school.
