Performances
The Magic Beyond: Four Women in Concert
Marialena Fernandes, Eshvita Annie Menezes, Meghana Uppala and Michelle Simons
A collage of the women’s quartet featuring Eshvita Annie Menezes, Marialena Fernandes, Meghana Uppala and Michelle Simons (from left to right).
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, we present a concert by a quartet of women musicians foregrounding works by women composers; emphasising female voice and artistic creativity. The concert will include varied and carefully selected works by both Western and Indian composers such as Cécile Chaminade, Amy Beach, and Clara Schumann.
Marialena Fernandes, an internationally renowned India-born concert pianist, who is based in Vienna, will lead the quartet. She will be joined by a trio of women musicians, from Chennai and Bangalore, on violin, flute, and cello.
This performance is in collaboration with the South Asian Symphony Foundation.
Bookings
This event is fully booked.
Marialena Fernandes
Pianist
Born in Mumbai, Marialena Fernandes has since been a recognized artist on the international scene for several years. After acquiring her Licentiate Diploma from the Royal Schools of Music (LRSM), Fernandes completed her education from Mumbai University in Psychology. She then went on to the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, (now University) where she received her Diploma in Piano and Chamber Music Performance with unanimous distinctions. She has performed Solo, Chamber Music and Orchestra concerts in most European capitals, but also in the USA, Australia, Africa and Asia: Annual TV and Radio broadcasts.
From 1988-2006, she was piano and chamber music professor at the Joseph Haydn Conservatory Eisenstadt, Austria. Since 1991, Professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Workshops, Lectures, Masterclasses around the globe, jury member at International Competitions. Since 2007, she has done the Series Cycle ‘Uno, Due, Tre’ in Musikverein Vienna. Fernandes has initiated several Projects with Women Composers and Gender themes. In 2008, Marialena received the MIA Award for Women with international background in the field of Art and Culture. In 2010, she was in Research Sabbatical as Faculty member and Scholar at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign USA. In 2013, Fernandes attained the PhD degree with Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Her Title ‘The Konkani Song – Roots – Development – Documentation’. In 2014, she got an invitation to ‘Beethoven Improvisation Symposium’ in MIT Massachusetts, USA.
Since 2015 – 2020, Fernandes has conceived a project called ‘The Quest for Passion’ in which she incorporates musicians from Europe and Indian music lovers in the cities of Goa, Bangalore, Mangalore, Mumbai, Pune in dialogue and interaction with each other involving talented youth from both worlds discussing diverse artistic subjects. Marialena is Artistic Director and International Programme Curator in Crossover projects, in which she incorporates classical, jazz and world music fusions with an emphasis on Improvisation. Intercultural exchange between Students, Teachers and Audiences.
Eshvita Annie Menezes
Violinist
Born in Goa, Eshvita has successfully completed the FTCL – Fellowship Diploma through the Trinity College of London in violin, under Myra Shroff and Nauzer Daruwalla in 2007. She also studied Piano with Delia Varga. She was awarded a scholarship to study and tour with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2014 and was one of the very few Indians selected to perform with the Symphony Orchestra of India under the Director Marat Bisengaliev where she was appointed as the leader and trainer of the String Ensemble in Goa in 2012. She regularly played for the Bombay Chamber Orchestra, and was invited to join the Sri Lanka Symphony Orchestra several times.
Eshvita is a part of Con Brio – Music Festival and Competition organised by Furtados, every year in Mumbai. Besides performing in most parts of India she has performed in Tokyo and Moscow as well. She was part of the Grand opening of the Royal Opera house in Mumbai in October 2016. In July 2022 she played with the South Asian Symphony Orchestra (SASO) when they performed in Chennai.
Eshvita is currently the Concert Master of Stuti Choral and String Ensemble, and enjoys working on chamber music regularly with Maestro Parvesh Java and Concert Pianist Nadine Jo Crasto.
Meghana Uppala
Flautist
Meghana Uppala is a first year medical student, studying in Tirupati. She has been playing the flute for ten years, and completed the Trinity Grade 6 exam in 2021. Her interest in music started in my childhood, with exposure to Carnatic Music classes from the age of five and her love for classical music started in the 3rd grade, when she saw a performance of Peter and the Wolf. In 2017, Meghana was selected to play in the Suburban Council Band of Upstate New York. She also performed at the Empire State Plaza in 2017 and 2018, with the Select
Band.
After coming to India, Meghana took lessons under Paulette Demello, of the Bangalore School of Music, and participated in student concerts organised by the BSM, playing solos and various ensemble works. During the pandemics 2020-2021 she enhanced her artistic and technical knowledge on the flute with Prof. Furugh Karimi of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In 2022, she performed the Telemann Concerto for Flute and Recorder with the BSM Chamber Orchestra and in 2023, she played Fauré’s Pavane with the BSM Chamber Orchestra and performed Campagnoli’s Duetto for Flute and Violin.
Michelle Simons
Cellist
Michelle has been playing the cello for eight years and has completed the ABRSM Performance Grade 8. She started learning music thirteen years ago with the violin, but decided to take up the cello after joining the Bangalore School of Music (BSM) Youth Orchestra. She has been part of multiple workshops and masterclasses held at BSM and has also had the opportunity to be a part of the Indian National Youth Orchestra (2019) and the South Asian Symphony Orchestra (2019 and 2022). Michelle has been a regular member of the BSM Chamber Orchestra since 2018 and currently lead the cello section. She also recently took part in the Austria Summer Music Festival, organised by the Partners for the Arts Abroad.
