Meera Raja joined the Musicians' Company Young Artists' Programme after being awarded our #RoyalCollegeofMusic Lambert Scholarship in 2018 and 2019. Here she performs 'Sannyasin' by John Mayer. "Firstly I’d like to thank The Musician’s Company for giving me the opportunity to perform. Over lockdown, I took the time to explore lesser known works for solo cello. This work was written for the acclaimed cellist Rohan de Saram in the late 1990s. Sannyasin refers in Hinduism to religious ascetics who renounce the world by abandoning all claims to social or family standing. In a way, this made me think of our time in lockdown where we were forced to abandon social contact rather than choosing to do so. By exploring this piece, it gave me a deeper understanding of positive discovery and fulfillment in my own company. The work itself is written as 4 brief pieces. The first piece has a series of very abrupt phrases which visually look chaotic, but I think have a very expressive quality. The pizzicato theme introduced in the second piece creates a beautiful atmosphere which for me, reflects the peaceful quality of being in isolation. The third and fourth movements are quite brief but remind me of freedom and discovery. The chaotic fourth movement which is based on a Taan (a fast series of notes) uses a traditional subdivision of 3,3,2 semiquavers in 2/4. The final C major cadence really gives me a sense of hope and joy; reflecting a positive outlook for better times ahead." Meera Priyanka Raja studied at the #RoyalCollegeofMusic with Professor Alexander Chaushian. She was supported by The Musicians’ Company Lambert Mentorship Scholarship and was a #HelpMusicians UK Postgraduate Award Holder. As a soloist Meera has performed across the country and Europe in venues including Royal Festival Hall, Drapers’ Hall and St. James’s Church Piccadilly. Her interest in Indian Classical Music has led her to play on the newly released album, ‘Essence of Raga Tala'. Meera played in the award-winning West End Musical ‘Bend it like Beckham’and subsequently performed as a solo cellist in a touring theatre production of Forster’s novel ‘A Passage to India'. She has performed live on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ programme with composer and tabla player Kuljit Bhamra MBE. Meera is passionate about teaching and strongly believes that every child is deserving of a musical education. -------------------------------------------------- Musicians' Company Profile - http://www.wcom.org.uk/yeoman/meera-raja About our Lambert Scholarships- http://www.wcomarchive.org.uk/--constant-kit-lambert Meera's Twitter - http://twitter.com/MeeraPriyanka Meera's Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/meera_priyanka_cello -------------------------------------------------- Join our weekly #MiddayMusic e-news at http://eepurl.com/dv0ccr #MiddayMusic is supported by funds from the Musicians' Company’s Prince’s Prize which received a generous endowment in 2015 from The Eranda Rothschild Foundation and Rothschilds Bank, in memory of Leopold de Rothschild, a Liveryman of the Musicians’ Company for over 50 years. Donate to support The Musicians' Company Young Artists - http://www.justgiving.com/musicianscompanyfund