Philomena Rukma Thumboochetty
Philomena Thumboochetty is a violinist who plays western classical music. At the age of seven she sat for the Junior Trinity college examination. Dr. Mistowsky, who examined her, caller her a “born Violinist” , Then as a young girl she went to the Calcutta school of music and sat for the FTCL examination of the examiner. He gave her 98% on the exam and remarked later that he had to resist the impulse to give her 100%. In 1929, at the age of sixteen, she was admitted to the Paris conservatoire of the candidates from all over the globe only ten were chosen, and Philomena was one of the them. After finishing her course at the Conservatoire, she became the pupil of the great Rumanian Violinist, Enesco, who also taught Yehudi Menuhin. Her first recital abroad was in London in 1934, since she wore a sari for the performance the notice in the London Trinity college of Music magazine called her a “Hindu Artiste”, despite an obviously Christian name, the same year she and her mother were presented at court. It was quite an event and what she and her mother wore were written about.
The English magazine punch went into raptures over her rendering of the, Violin in its Silver Jubilee number it published a poem of tribute to her and Xenophon Balaskar of the south African cricket team. Philomena ThumboochettY gave several performances abroad and in India, and in 1937, was talking in terms of a combination based on the Indian and western systems having a wider appeal. This was seen to be the “Nature of her mission” with the comment who can evolve that synthesis better than her? Philomena Thumboochjetty believes that gender makes no difference at all to violin – playing and the brilliant first phase of her career is proof of that. She has had some personal tragedies with regards to her children but has continued to play. She still plays in her large house with life size portraits of her family around. When I asker her how old she was when she gave her first recital in London in 1934, she laughed and replied “I won’t tell you. You will calculate my age.
