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| Monday, 8 September 2003 |
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Landmark Choral concert Peradeniya Singers Jubilee Concert 12th Sept. Lionel Wendt Theatre 7 pm 14th Sept. EOE Pereira Theatre Peradeniya 6.30 pm This group presents a wide spectrum of choral music representative of the work it has done in the past fifty years.
Beginning with the earliest tradition of Western Music, Medieval Latin Plainchant, it moves on to a selection of Renaissance polyphony, both sacred and secular, from Italy. England and France. Two examples of the work of the Baroque master J.S. Bach follow after which come two choral works by Mozart, representing the homophony of the Classical period. Works by two great Romantic composers, Schubert and Brahms, come next. Then across the Atlantic to America, with two great spirituals of the Black people in the days of slavery. Three lively and uplifting numbers follow suggestive of the hopeful joy of a youthful nation and then a choral harmonisation of Grizabella's aria from the musical 'Cats' by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The last group of choral works presents music from different countries and musical traditions, including Sinhala and Japanese songs and a Dravidian dithyramb. The Peradeniya singers The Peradeniya Singers began life as the University singers founded by Robin Mayhead at the University of Ceylon in 1953. Robin Mayhead came to the University's Department of English in Peradeniya from Downing College, Cambridge, where he had directed a choral group. Mayhead was committed to d capella performance, a skill he nurtured in us painlessly rehearsing just an hour twice weekly in the Art's Faculty's Room B. Fascinated by the music of the early Renaissance he gave us an enduring taste for the Polyphony of Palestrina, Vittoria, Manduit, Byrd et al, taking us into musical experiences ranging from the plangent solemnity of Vittoria's 'O Vos Omnes' to the lighthearted 'El Grillo' in praise of the chirping of the cricket.
The original group faded out after the departure of Robin Mayhead in 1958, though the impetus was carried to the SCM choir and the Newman Society Choir, the latter directed by Frederic Ludowyk and then by Ray Forbes. The present director Bridget Halpe was a member of the Newman Society Choir from 1956. She returned in 1962 from a two-year stint in Bristol studying music at the university. Drawing on her training and experience in Bristol's Department of Music and as a member of the University of Bristol Choir, the select thirty-two choir and the Paragon Singers, she took over the Newman Society choir and revived the University Singers. Both choirs met regularly and presented several programmes despite disruptions by events in this turbulent period and by the so-called university reorganisation which removed the Humanities from Peradeniya and the Halpes with them. The unrest in the country in 1988-1990 led to a closure of universities for two years. Fortunately, the group already included several non-university people, and so the choir was able to continue under the new name Peradeniya Singers. Composed of students and working people, including many expatriates, the group's membership varies and fluctuates considerably. The group rehearses weekly with Bridget Halpe, nearly half the members, now working or studying in Colombo, rehearsing with her in Mount Lavinia, and members in and around Kandy at her residence at Anniewatte. Besides its own annual concerts, Peradeniya Singers has presented or participated in several special programmes, notably the concert in celebration of the Bach/Handel tricentennial (1985), the bicentennial of the French Republic (1989), the fiftieth anniversaries of university education in Sri Lanka (1992) and of the move of the University to Peradeniya (2002), the ceremonial opening of the rebuilt Central Bank building (2001), etc. It participated on invitation in several Christmas and Easter concerts of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka under conductors Earle de Fonseka and Lalanath de Silva and in the recordings of three important and innovative Sri Lankan works; Devar Suriya Sena's Sri Lankan setting of the Anglican Eucharistic Celebration, Lalanath de Silva's 'Requiem Orbis Terrarum' and Pradeep Ratnayake's 'Indrakeelaya'. Peradeniya Singers was all-island winners (choral) at the festivals in Sri Lanka of the British Federation of Festivals of Music Speech and Drama in the first three years 1998, 1999 and 2000 - winning the Richard Graves award. Reviewers found the choir's 2002 concert Adoramus Christum "... discerning and tasteful: extremely well performed" (Professor Timothy Scott), ".. rare and sublime... great deal of dedication." (Malinie Samarajiwa) and a "... rare treat... "the music in my heart I bore/long after it was heard no more'" (Marjorie Peries). This year its director Bridget Halpe celebrates forty-one years as a choral director and the choir its fiftieth year. Muttukumaru's book launch today "Why should I give a damn for the Global Economy? A pre-and-post - September 11 perspective by Gerard Dilhan Muttukumaru will be launched at 5.00 pm. today at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo.
Gerard Dilhan Muttukumaru, whose professional expertise includes
serving as the Asia program manager in the Philippines, at World Vision
International and with two global financial services organisations and as
a principal with a California based international healthcare consulting
firm. In 1998 he founded the US based centre for Global leadership Inc.
the author has served on the faculty of universities in the USA, having
taught leadership, global management, strategy and global marketing to
managers in the MBA and professional education programmes. The Thorn Birds at Russian Centre The Thorn Birds (1983) will be screened at the Russian Centre in Colombo in two parts, on September 20 and 27 at 5.00 pm. The Thorn Birds is the tale of friendship between a girl and a boy Tarns Sultry and Stormy as they mature over four decades. The boy becomes a priest and the girl a married woman. The Thorn Birds is based on College McCullough's 1997 best selling novel. The story based on the multigenerational clearly family and spanned the years 1920-1962. At the outset the family Patriarch Paddy Clearly (Richard Kiley) his wife Fiona (Jean Simmons) and children moved from New Zealand to Australia to help run Drogheda owned by Paddy's wealthy sister. The story is focused primarily on the lone Cleary daughter Maggie (Rachel Ward) and her relationship with father Ralph de Bricassart (Richard Chamberlain) this won the 1983 Golden Globe award for best mini series. The cast is Richard Chamberlain, Sydney Penny, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyk, Jean Simmons and Richard Kiley. For further details please contact the co-ordinator between 9.00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m. on weekdays on 2685429/2685440. |
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Produced by Lake House |
This book is on how the post September 11 and post Iraq global economy
affect every aspect of one's life whether it be a student, educator,
parent or a CEO of a national or an international organisation. The author
also examines the increasingly dominant role played by teenagers and women
in the broderless economy. The author is of the view that the USA, the
West and all advanced economies, the UN and Multi-lateral agencies can and
must be a tremendous force for good. The book is published by Vijitha Yapa
Publications.
