With such reviews as “poetic” and “passionate”,  Sri Lankan American pianist Harsha Abeyaratne has given solo performances at prestigious venues St. Martin’s in the Fields in London and and Carnegie Hall (Weil Recital Hall) in New York, the first time in 2012 and the second, in 2022. He has also performed at the Gansu Grand Theater in Lanzhou, China; Lionel Wendt Recital Hall in Colombo, Sri Lanka; and the Interharmony International Festival in Arcidosso, Italy. Additionally, within the United States, he has played in several cities that include Chicago, Charleston, WV, Portland, OR, Columbus, OH, and Philadelphia. An equally dedicated collaborative pianist, Abeyaratne has performed with noted artists George Wolfe, Rebecca Rischin, and Randy Sabein, among others. In this collaborative medium, he has played works by contemporary composers such as Hindemith, Creston, Fink, Tower, Gweneth Walker, Ewazen, Desenclos, and Glazunov.

Abeyaratne has also given recitals at several universities in the US, namely Ohio State University, Ohio University, Jacksonville University, Marshall University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Texas A&M University in Commerce, West Liberty University, and the University of Southern Oregon. Abeyaratne has performed Rachmaninoff’s “First Piano Concerto” with the Colombo Symphony Orchestra (in Sri Lanka); Rachmaninoff’s “Second Piano Concerto” with the Southeastern Ohio Symphony Orchestra, and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with the Muskingum Valley Symphonic Winds. In 2018, he released his CD entitled, “Grateful”, featuring popular piano solo works by Mozart, Liszt, Brahms, and Dello Joio. In demand as an adjudicator in Ohio, he has judged the OhioMTA/Graves Piano Competition, OhioMTA/Buckeye Auditions, and Young Artist’s MTNA/Ohio Competition, all highly respected competitions. In addition, he is a recipient of the 2010 Ball State University School of Music Alumni Achievement Citation Award and several faculty grant awards from Muskingum, which have enabled him to perform in New York, China, and Italy.

Abeyaratne, who took early retirement from full time teaching at Muskingum University in May 2025, is currently a professor emeritus in music. During his twenty two year tenure at Muskingum, he taught, among others, piano, music theory, aural skills, music history, and Black American music; presented an annual solo recital; and collaborated with his colleagues as well as students at their senior recitals. He helped to make the department visible also by frequent adjudications in Coshocton, New Philadelphia, Columbus, and Zanesville. He is a member of the Thursday Music Club in Zanesville and for several years served as a board member of the Zanesville Concert Association. Prior to Muskingum, he served the respective keyboard departments of Manchester College, Manchester, Indiana and Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia. He has degrees from Lewis and Clark College (BA, BSc) and Ball State University (MM, DAMus) where he studied, respectively, with the late Ann Miller and Robert Palmer. He has also worked with Peter Takacs at the Oberlin Conservatory. Some his interests outside of classical music include jazz, tennis, and NBA basketball.