Suhashini Arulnanandam
Q: When did you start playing?
A: When I was 3, in the Suzuki program in St. John's, Newfoundland. My first teacher was Marion Handrigan.
Q: What made you choose your instrument?
A: I don't remember if I even chose it! I've seen old photos of myself as a toddler playing with an old full-size violin that belonged to my grandmother, so maybe that's why my mom decided to start me on the violin.
Q: What is your most memorable HPO experience?
A: Probably the What Next festival chamber music concerts. The setting was intimate, and the atmosphere was charged with excitement from both the audience and the musicians! I just remember how great it was to chat with some of the audience members afterwards, which we are not always able to do.
Q: What kind of things do you like to do when you’re not playing?
A: Lately, sleeping. But I love to cook and do crafty things like knitting, crocheting and sewing. I practice yoga, and take a dance class now and then. Walking, as mundane as it might sound, is one of my favourite things to do and I love to explore new neighbourhoods on foot.
Q: Who is your favourite composer to play or listen to?
A: I can't really choose...it totally depends on my mood, but I'm leaning towards Brahms and Rachmaninoff, and right now I'm kind of obsessed with Beethoven String Quartets. Ask me again tomorrow and I might tell you that my favourites are Bach and Shostakovich, but I've always been in love with Puccini operas.
Q: Favourite book? Movie?
A: The short story is my favourite genre. Some of my favourites are by Jhumpa Lahiri and Alice Munro. Also, I tend to read cookbooks as if they were novels. Movies? Water and Antonia's Line, a Dutch film. And I could probably watch the Back to the Future movies over and over.
Q: Do you have a secret indulgence?
A: Yes.
