Biography

Rohan De Silva’s partnerships with violin virtuosos Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Cho-Liang Lin, Midori, Joshua Bell, Benny Kim, Kyoko Takezawa, Vadim Repin, Gil Shaham, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Julian Rachlin, James Ehnes, and Rodney Friend have led to highly acclaimed performances at recital venues all over the world.

Alongside Mr. Perlman, Mr. De Silva has performed multiple times at the White House, most recently in 2012, at the invitation of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama, for Israeli president and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Shimon Peres; and at a state dinner in 2007, hosted by President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush for Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Mr. De Silva began his piano studies with his mother, Primrose De Silva, and Mary Billimoria. He spent six years at the Royal Academy of Music in London and received many awards, including the Grover Bennett Scholarship, the Christian Carpenter Prize, the Martin Music Scholarship, the Harold Craxton Award, and the Chappell gold medal for best overall performance. Mr. De Silva was the first recipient of a special scholarship in the arts from the President’s Fund of Sri Lanka. This enabled him to enter the Juilliard School, studying with Martin Canin, Felix Galimir, and Dorothy DeLay. He was named best accompanist at the Ninth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and received the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award, presented by Itzhak Perlman at Carnegie Hall. Mr. De Silva has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Universal, CBS/Sony Classical, Collins Classics in London, RCA Victor, and Chandos.

(12/2022)