Gayathri Khemadasa composes Phoolan Devi opera
Gayathiri Kahemadasa, daughter of Sri Lanka’s iconic composer Premasiri Khemadasa will compose music for the “Untouchable Opera” based on the story Phoolan Devi, India’s Bandit Queen in a Toronto performance on Friday.
Kahemadasa was the first woman to score music in a film in Sri Lanka and was trained as a pianist at the Prague Conservatory and in 2011 she was awarded a Fulbright Professional Scholarship to write the opera Phoolan Devi which was performed at Wesleyan University, Dartmouth, Cal State in the US, in Toronto and Sri Lanka, according to a citation on phoolandeviopera.com.
Phoolan Devi was legendary character in modern South Asian history, often described as a champion of the poor, she was born into a low caste in India, she was abused at a young age, disowned by her husband and joined a bandit gang. She was later implicated in the massacre of 22 men, spent time in jail and elected a member of parliament in 1996. In 2001, Phoolan Devi was shot dead outside her home in Delhi.
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Gayathiri Kahemadasa (Picture MySpace)
Gayathiri Kahemadasa, daughter of Sri Lanka’s iconic composer Premasiri Khemadasa will compose music for the “Untouchable Opera” based on the story Phoolan Devi, India’s Bandit Queen in a Toronto performance on Friday.
Kahemadasa was the first woman to score music in a film in Sri Lanka and was trained as a pianist at the Prague Conservatory and in 2011 she was awarded a Fulbright Professional Scholarship to write the opera Phoolan Devi which was performed at Wesleyan University, Dartmouth, Cal State in the US, in Toronto and Sri Lanka, according to a citation on phoolandeviopera.com.
Phoolan Devi was legendary character in modern South Asian history, often described as a champion of the poor, she was born into a low caste in India, she was abused at a young age, disowned by her husband and joined a bandit gang. She was later implicated in the massacre of 22 men, spent time in jail and elected a member of parliament in 1996. In 2001, Phoolan Devi was shot dead outside her home in Delhi.
