Meese Agrawal Tonkin was a freshman in high school when she realized she wanted to be a musician.
She had played the violin since the age of five before switching to flute in the fifth grade. Some people have spirit animals. Tonkin had found her spirit instrument.
“I was realizing that music runs really deep with me,” she said. “This feeling runs so deep and is so strong, it is something I want to do forever and share with the world.”
Tonkin, a classically trained flutist, will bring her musical stylings to the Mercer Island Community and Event Center when she performs with her Brazilian music outfit En Canto this Saturday. The band will be performing at the Mercer Island band program’s fundraising event, Band Together.
Tonkin knows firsthand the importance of the Island’s band program. A 2004 MIHS grad, she participated in music from fifth through 12th grade and every All-Island Band Night in between. She now divides her time working as a private music teacher and writing music with En Canto, which will release an album of original music Dec. 5.
It was through the music program Tonkin says she found her comfort zone growing up.
“Everyone’s weird in high school. We’re all trying to fit in and the band room was that haven where you could be weird and be yourself,” she said. “I felt like I could let my guard down with those people and collaborate in a real true way. It was when true collaboration got to happen.”
She credits the support of band teachers Parker Bixby and Dave Bentley for nurturing her love of music.
“They were always a presence. I always knew Mr. Bixby and Mr. Bentley would be there cheering me on, just like my parents,” she said.
Coming from a household with a Portuguese mother and an Indian father, the music and culture surrounding Tonkin was quite diverse. Tonkin fostered a love for world music, and grew up listening to various types of Latin and African music.
Although classically trained with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in flute performance, it was the Brazilian rhythms and melodies that awakened Tonkin’s creative passion. While studying for her master’s at the University of Washington, Tonkin was allowed to take lessons outside the program with renowned Brazilian composer Jovino Santos Neto.
“[Classical music] is very unified, and going to this form of music where individualism is revered, we are colorful and outspoken, it’s just a completely different form,” Tonkin said. “I fell in love with it. It was so much more true to me and my personality.”
Tonkin said the best part about being a musician for a living is doing her favorite hobby daily. She shares smiles and her love of music with her students. She says she’ll continue to do it because she has to; losing that outlet is like losing a limb.
“Music has taken me around the world. My flute has taken me to Rome to perform in an opera, taken me around Spain, to Brazil, to Canada. It’s taken me all around the U.S. The people I’ve met, the music I’ve heard, exploring the world from a musical perspective is pretty special and not something a lot of people get to do.”
When Tonkin takes the stage Saturday night, she hopes to give something back to the community that helped her find her true calling.
“I want to make Mr. Bixby and Mr. Bentley proud,” she said. “They have been a constant source of inspiration for me and I want to show them what I’ve done and show the Mercer Island community what Mercer Island band kids can do. They can do classical music, they can do crazy Brazilian music in a sweaty dance hall, there is so much they can do.”
For more on En Canto and their music, visit www.encantobrazil.com.
