Sunetra Fernando

Composer, Musician, Teacher

London, United Kingdom

Sunetra is a composer, musician and teacher based in London, United Kingdom.

Her primary performance practice pioneered a form of contemporary Malay/Malaysian gamelan in concerts in Malaysia through her work with Rhythm in Bronze gamelan ensemble, Malaysia (1995-2005) as pioneer director, musician and artistic lead.

Sunetra was recently awarded the Arts Council England’s ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ grant (2019) to support a CPD project in creative music leadership based on the Malaysian gamelan as a vehicle through which everyone can experience music & creativity.

As a music lecturer at the University of Malaya (1994-2005) and as director of Rhythm in Bronze, Sunetra commissioned new works for the Malaysian gamelan, performing these works concert-style, drawing together a programme that negotiated musical identities and styles, the traditional and contemporary, and bringing a new multi-ethnic audience to what has tended to be viewed as a mono-cultural form.

Sunetra has a background in choral music and music education outreach.