This Sunday, ASQ performs the Mozart Viola Quintet in E-flat Major, KV 614 at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Joining us is violist and Classical Revolution founder Charith Premawardhana!
Charith Premawardhana
Charith Premawardhana (viola) was born in Sri Lanka, raised in Chicago, and has been a resident of San Francisco since 2004. He holds performance degrees from The Ohio State University, Rice University, and a chamber music degree from San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Charith is the founder of Classical Revolution, an organization which promotes live music performances in neighborhood and community venues. What started in 2006 years ago as a weekly chamber music reading session at Revolution Cafe in San Francisco’s Mission District has grown into a worldwide phenomenon, with over 30 active chapters in cities around the US, Canada, and Europe. Classical Revolution is very active in the SF Bay Area, having presented more than 1200 live performance events since 2006.
Charith is a proponent of new music of different styles, and has premiered more than 300 new works since moving to San Francisco in 2004. In addition, he has recorded and performed with diverse groups such as world chamber ensemble Musical Art Quintet, pop group Third Eye Blind, jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux, rock band The Mars Volta, Indian/jazz percussionist Sameer Gupta, folk rock band Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, hip hop orchestra Deltron 3030, gypsy folk group Rupa & the April Fishes, and numerous other ensembles from various musical styles. With all of these different projects, Charith’s main interest is in chamber music, and he brings the experience gained in performing in a string quartet to each of these non-classical chamber groups and vice versa.
Charith has held positions in orchestras around the US including the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Columbus (OH) Symphony, Houston Ballet, Berkeley Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, Cabrillo Contemporary Music Festival, and Aspen Music Festivals. He has performed at the Newport, Montreal, Monterey, San Jose, Playboy, Vancouver, and Victoria Jazz Festivals.