Music traditions meet in collaborative concert of Norwegian and Sri
Lankan talent
The Norwegian Embassy, in collaboration with The Concert Institute,
Norway, and the Aru Sri Art Theatre, Sri Lanka, will present ‘Traditions
Meet’ a concert that combines the musical traditions of Norway and Sri
Lanka. The concert will be held at Ananda College, Colombo on 14
November, and at the Hindu Cultural Centre in Kandy on 13 November.
‘Traditions Meet’ is an amazing meeting of folk music, classical and
contemporary traditions from the two countries and will feature Sri
Lankan and Norwegian artists, saxophone, guitar, violinists, flautists,
drummers and singers, bringing together string and wind music, Sri
Lankan folk dance and drums.
Music has long been a universal language that cuts across barriers of
language, region, ethnicity and religion, uniting divided communities
and reconnecting fragmented societies, since it speaks directly to
people’s hearts and appeals to their emotions. Norwegian ambassador to
Sri Lanka, H.E. Tore Hattrem confirms this.
“By initiating a programme for musical collaboration between Sri
Lanka and Norway, we hope progressively to contribute to more
interaction and understanding between people.”
As a first step in this direction, Norway plans to have a music
co-operation with Sri Lanka, to facilitate the transfer of music
knowledge and competency development within music education between the
two countries.
This will be accomplished through seminars, workshops and several
exchange-programmes, for teachers as well as students, and universities
in the South, West, North and East who will be invited to participate.
An important pillar of the project will be documentation of the rich
Sri Lankan heritage of ethnic music and dance expressions in danger of
being forgotten and lost forever, and their storage in a manner that
makes them accessible to society.
The funding will be supported through the Royal Norwegian Embassy and
implemented through the collaboration between Concerts Norway and the
local partners in Sri Lanka.
The ‘Traditions Meet’ concert opens with an item by Norwegian trio
‘Seven Winds’ - Becaye Aw, guitar, Rolf-Erik NystrØm, saxophone and
singer Unni LØvlid. After their performance Becaye Aw and Rolf-Erik will
join Sri Lankan musicians in an intercultural performance titled
‘Traditions Meet’.
Among the Sri Lankan artists are Ravibandu Vidyapathy, Sri Lankan
Drums, Priyantha Dassanayaka, Flute, Ruwan Weerasekara, Violin and
Ratnam Ratnadurai, Traditional Drums and Rhythm Effects. V. Jambunathan,
Mrithangam player, Saranga Abeysinghe and Jithendra Vidyapathy, Kandyan
drummers and dancers, K.P.R.Ravi Shankar South Indian Thavil player,
Darshana Mallawarachchi and Nupathi Nilambara, drummers, will also
perform at the concert. Mathra, a popular folklore group, will also
perform. Mathra is directed by Saman Panapitiya, singer, composer and
senior lecturer in ethnomusicology at the University of Visual and
Performing Arts. You will also be able to hear the brilliant Folk
singers Indika Upamali and T.S.Murugesh.
The Aru Sri Art Theatre will present an innovative and extremely
creative Tamil folk dance group who are skilled in various dance styles,
classical, folk and contemporary.
This year marks the 100th anniversary for Norwegian poet Olav H.
Hauge. The Norwegian music you will hear is inspired by his literary
work.
The music is composed by Becaye, Rolf-Erik and Unni, who are visiting
Sri Lanka as part of their international tour in autumn 2008.
The Concert in Kandy will include two extra items, a Tamil folk Dance
by the Central Province Hindu Association presented by Vyjayanthimala
Selvaratnam, and Teemus Peiris of the Kandy Music Society who will do a
Saxophone and Vocal performance that represents Kandyan song and music.
A Sound Engineering Workshop will also be conducted with Norwegian
collaboration, by Ingar Hunskaar in Kandy at the Hindu Cultural Centre
at 3.30 pm on 13 November and at Ananda College at 3.30 pm in Colombo on
14 November, to which the public is welcome. Ingar Hunskaar is a sound
engineer based in Oslo, Norway, who is travelling to Sri Lanka with the
trio. He is also a producer and musician, who has mastered and recorded
many Norwegian records. He will be handling sound at the Concert.
Another concert will be held in early December when Norwegian jazz
band the Hot Club de Norvège will visit Sri Lanka and will hold a
performance as well as a workshop in Colombo. Both concerts are funded
by the Royal Norwegian Embassy.
(For more information, please contact Aru Sri Art Theatre, Ms.
Arunthathy tel: 0777-314425). |
