The ZAP Productions film, Adrian Anantawan – The Story Behind the Notes, debuts on the Documentary Channel. It starts at 8 p.m.
Anantawan, 21, who by all accounts is a brilliant violinist, was born without his right hand. However, he hasn't let that get in the way of his dreams.
As he says in the documentary, "the perfection of the music drives me."
A winner of the 2001 Mississauga Arts Award for music, Anantawan is working on his master's in music at Yale University after being accepted with a full scholarship. He was previously featured on Person 2 Person with Paula Todd and has performed with the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra.
He's also an active member of the CHAMP program with War Amps Canada and Bloorview Kids Rehab. Over the course of his career, Anantawan has graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and won scholarships through the National Art Centre Young Artist Program and the Perlman Music Program.
The artistic director of the National Art Centre's program admitted he was skeptical about a violinist born without a hand — that was, until he met Anantawan.
"When I first met Adrian I was bewildered because I didn’t know how he created a sound," said Pinchas Zukerman, who also serves as music director with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
The documentary captures Anantawan's solo debut performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The film also includes footage spanning his musical career, including time with his first teachers to his studies at the Curtis Institute and his close bond with War Amps and its CEO, Cliff Chadderton.
"Obviously, he's got a disadvantage when he plays, but he’s not having any (of it)," said Itzhak Perlman, Anantawan's mentor and founder of New York's Perlman Music Program. "He's just going for it, and that's important."
For more information, visit www.cbc.ca/documentarychannel.
cclay@mississauga.net
