Asitha Tennekoon

Co-Founder

Pronouns: he/him/his

I was a colonial success story. Born and raised in post-colonial Sri Lanka, I grew up in an urban, westernized environment where I was made to believe that anything coming out of the English-speaking world was superior and that speaking English well and participating in western traditions made me a better person than those who did not. At age six I started studying western classical music, eventually studying to become an opera singer. I never questioned why traditional opera glorified certain cultures while disparaging others. I never thought to ask why stories from non-western cultures were misrepresented or missing altogether. I never noticed the fact that so many victims and villains in the operatic canon were people of colour. 

The realizations started rolling in after personal experiences within the opera world. Incidents that made me question my sense of belonging in a community to which I thought I was destined to belong. I realized no matter how westernized I was or how many times I bent myself out of shape to fit in that box, I could never control someone else’s reaction to the colour of my skin. 

I love opera. As a powerful synergy between music, theatre, and art, it should be liberating, not discriminatory. Unleashing the raw energy and nuance of the human voice as a means of storytelling is thrilling. Introspectively, it helps me make sense of myself and the world in which I live. However, that world includes communities misrepresented and forgotten by traditional opera, who have been made to feel that their voices have no place in its halls. 

My work with AO is driven by a desire to see a world of opera that emboldens artists and communities to take control without having to fit in a box before entering the room. A space that celebrates their cultures and histories, where they share their unique stories on their own terms.