Dinuk Wijeratne, conductor

The Sri Lankan-born Canadian Dinuk Wijeratne is a JUNO and multi-award-winning composer, conductor and pianist who has been described by the New York Times as ‘exuberantly creative’ and by the Toronto Star as ‘an artist who reflects a positive vision of our cultural future’. His boundary-crossing work sees him equally at home in collaborations with symphony orchestras and string quartets, tabla players and DJs, and takes him to international venues as poles apart as the Berlin Philharmonie and the North Sea Jazz Festival.

Dinuk has also appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center (Washington DC), Opera Bastille (Paris), Lincoln Center (New York), Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Sri Lanka, Japan, and across the Middle East. He was featured as a main character in ‘What would Beethoven do?’ – the documentary about innovation in Classical music featuring Eric Whitacre, Bobby McFerrin and Ben Zander. Recent performances include those with the San Francisco Symphony, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and the Banff International String Quartet Competition; forthcoming projects include collaborations with Grammy-winners Elliot Madore and Avi Avital.

Dinuk has shared the stage and/or composed for: Yo Yo Ma & the Silk Road Ensemble, James Ehnes, Zakir Hussain, Sandeep Das, Kinan Azmeh, Ed Thigpen, Eric Vloeimans, the Gryphon Trio, TorQ Percussion, the Afiara, Danel, and Cecilia String Quartets; and with every major Canadian orchestra. Dinuk holds a doctorate from the University of Toronto, having also studied at the Juilliard School (with John Corigliano), Mannes College (US), and the Royal Northern College of Music (UK). He was recently appointed Assistant Professor to the Faculty of Music at the University of Ottawa. His music and collaborative work embrace the great diversity of his international background and influences.