1.    Tell me about “Christmas with Kishani”? What was your inspiration?

An album of songs has been on my list of things to do for quite a while. It had been put on the back burner, as a recording requires so much time, and time always comes at a premium. However I finally decided to just get on with it. Somehow we managed to coordinate diaries between myself and my magical musical team for just 5 short weeks and we did it!

After that the really big question was what kind of repertoire to record. As an opera singer, operatic arias would have been the obvious choice. However that is what I do almost all the time and I felt I wanted to challenge myself with something different and not so ‘obvious’! An album of show tunes and lighter songs was very tempting, but quickly rejected as being too far off the beam, especially for a Debut album. Then the idea of sacred arias came into my mind. Perfect for my voice, it provided something different from my usual choice of repertoire and it would also be accessible for a larger group of people. On top of everything the timing was just perfect. It was really important to me that the message of beautiful music reach as far and wide as possible.

With the basic idea in place, the rest of the concept began to grow and I thought it would be interesting and fun to also incorporate a few seasonal holiday favourites, and so the general idea for Christmas with Kishani was born. In addition to the sacred repertoire, I wanted to sing some seasonal traditional favourites, but with a new approach, so I felt a few delicious medleys with a seasonal flavour would also work quite well. The arrangements Soundarie and I came up with were brand new, inspired and a real joy with lots of top notes and unusual twists and turns and such a treat to work through and finally record! Yet even then I felt something was missing - I felt something slightly more contemporary was needed to make the music mixture really tasty! So I then decided to try my hand at writing my own songs! Primarily in order to add something new and original to the list, and more importantly what could be more challenging than to write and sing something for the first time, for your own album?!  So finally, with the sacred arias, traditional seasonal favourites and new compositions, I felt this album had exactly the right balance and mix of repertoire to make it really exciting and interesting. The final result was  Christmas with Kishani!

 

2.    About your originals, would you continue writing songs?

Absolutely! To be honest, it is not a road I thought I would ever venture down. After all, there’s plenty of brilliant and amazing music written by the Masters that suit me just fine and I could sing for at least 2 lifetimes!!

However now that I have had a taste of creating something like that I am eager to try my hand at it again. On a personal note it is simply wonderful to write something which just so suits my own instrument and expresses exactly what I want to say, in my own words, so I will definitely be trying it again, so watch this space! I will be keeping my fingers crossed that it was more than simply beginners luck...!  

3.    Who is your inspiration when it comes to music?

I was once told that only a happy bird sings and amazingly this phrase has always stuck with me. In essence it describes the core of my existence. I have so much to be thankful for and so much to be happy about and of course this means my heart is happy, which always gives me a reason to sing. There are so many factors that contribute to it of course but the steadfast anchor in my life has always been my family. That foundation is rock solid and so my inspiration to sing is too and hopefully will always be boundless.
 

4.    The team that worked with you on this?

A musician is only as strong as the team she works with and in this case, I was blessed with the strength of Olympus!! My genius musical team was made up of old friends and new: Soundarie David Rodrigo, my treasured friend and amazing, incredible creator; Neranjan de Silva, such a genius Maestro of all he does and also a very dear friend; Sureka, a magical musician who’s creativity continues to astound me; Shiraz Nooramith, aka ‘uncle Diko’, my dream team drummer and percussionist who made the recording process so much fun and really brought my music alive; Pradeep Rodrigo, a new discovery for me with his stunning bass and sensitive musicianship. I couldn’t have done it without each and every one of them. Together we have been able to create an album that is so very special and heartfelt.

 

5.    What’s new for 2015?

With lots of organisation and a little bit of luck, spending more time with my family!!!  

Singing in several new places such as China, Brazil and Russia - always excited to venture onto new ground.

Spending more time developing and growing into my role as a Visiting Lecturer in Voice at University of Visual and Performing Arts here in Colombo.

Developing and honing young classical vocal talent, especially in Asia. I am also going to be doing more international Masterclasses, but I want to focus particularly in Asia.

Any other exciting surprises that may come my way.

And who knows, I might even find time to put together another Album...!!!

6.    Tell me about your website?

It’s cool, it’s brand new and will hopefully keep you aware of what’s going on in my musical life. The plan is to actively partake in what goes on it and I’m trying out some amazing new pictures and experimenting with it all the time. Most importantly however, I love the web address - it’s exactly the one I wanted: www.kishani.com