In 2014, Ursula Nelius was visiting Galle, Sri Lanka while vacationing with a friend. Little did she know that she was about to embark on a life-changing experience. After earning her Master of Music from SFCM in 1995 while studying violin with Ian Swensen, Nelius established a successful career, winning a 1st violin position in Germany and performing as a freelance violinist in her homeland, Australia.

She was surprised to feel perfectly at home in the exotic, tropical city situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka. On this fateful trip, she also met a Sri Lankan who would become her future husband. When Nelius returned after her vacation, she knew she had to go back to Galle, but the question was how. A revelation came when she saw an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) feature on British violist Rosemary Nalden, who founded a music program, Buskaid, for young black musicians in South African townships. Nelius wanted to start her own “Buskaid” — and a higher purpose emerged.

Nelius had no experience running nonprofits or even much experience teaching, but that did not deter her from this newfound passion. Over the next year, she fervently took courses on how to start a nonprofit and participated in violin pedagogy seminars such as the Mimi Zweig Retreat for Violin and Viola Teachers in Indiana. NGOs (non-governmental organizations or nonprofits) in Sri Lanka have a bad reputation, which posed additional challenges for Nelius. Through the help of longtime friends in Australia and new ones in Galle, Nelius was able to realize her dream in April of 2016 with the grand opening her new school, Serendip Strings, officiated by the local head Buddhist monk, Hindu priest, and mosque representative.

There was overwhelming interest — 110 young people applied, but they could only enroll 70. With a grassroots staff of two, Serendip Strings teaches a combined curriculum of Eastern and Western styles. The students do not bring instruments home, but diligently attend private and group lessons two to three times a week. “When I asked the students to take the bows out of their cases, a couple eight-year-old boys high-fived each other,” recounted Nelius, “I wish I'd had that moment in a photo.”  Their inaugural concert was followed by a familial celebration of local, homemade treats such as kiribath (milk rice and chilli sambol), bananas, butter cake, and juice.

Such an idyllic scene makes it easy to forget that Sri Lanka is a nation in reconciliation. After 26 years, its civil war ended in 2009. The turmoil between Sri Lanka’s main ethnic groups,Tamil and Sinhalese, resulted in a death toll of approximately 70,000. Now, seven years after the end of the war, the children in Serendip Strings are growing up in a very different world than their parents. The music school brings together children from Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, and Christian families.

Serendip Strings is growing and has recently taken over the lease of Serendipity Trust, an established nonprofit that provides many services for children. “There is now more pressure and responsibility to make this happen, but I truly have no regrets,” says Nelius. “I was so blessed with a life rich in music, and now I am passing it on to children who would never have such an opportunity otherwise.”

To learn more about Serendip Strings, visit serendipstrings.com.au.