Virtuosity Honoured
Doctorate conferred on Victor Ratnayake:
Channa BANDARA WIJEKOON
Victor Ratnayake with his melodious voice and mesmerizing melodies
has brought warmth to the hearts of Sri Lankans for more than four
decades. This humble artiste with the divine touch had magically bridged
the gap between Maestro Amaradeva and H R Jothipala over the years.
Victor, with his SA Prasangaya, made his presence felt in all corners of
the country including the North and the East.
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Victor Ratnayake |
University of the Visual and Performing Arts took a generous and a
bold decision to honour Victor Ratnayake with a Doctorate for the yeomen
service he has rendered to the nation.
Victor smilingly goes down the memory lane. He recalls pleasant and
bitter experiences in his musical career like a hermit who has developed
the sixth sense. Victor has gifted many a melody he made for himself to
other singers.
"An artist could derive satisfaction by engaging in a feat like this,
only if he knows his onions," says Victor. Thus he humbly tells the
youth who aspire to be good singers and musicians in future, to go under
a rigorous training period, prior to trying their luck at the macro
level.
While being grateful to the Government and the University for
honoring him with a Doctorate, Victor urged the need by the authorities
to pave the way for him along with other seniors in the field to conduct
workshops for the budding young singers and musicians. He says it is the
best means to share his experiences with the youth and also to teach
them the finer points in becoming performer.
Victor has never danced on stage to entice the audience; yet he
managed to keep his fans intact and also to win the hearts of many new
fans for four decades, because of the charisma and musical ability he
has developed with great determination and practice. Thus, one could
describe him as a brand ambassador or a marketing practitioner.
The Saraswathie Sthothra he sings as the curtain raiser of SA
Prasangaya depicts his gratefulness towards his teachers and seniors.
Victor is very concerned of the values, culture and heritage of a
country. He says, any form of art must have integrity and must be within
the norms and culture of the land. Sri Lankan identity is important to
communicate with the rest of the world, he says. Victor has staged his
musical show for Sri Lankans living abroad; England, America, France,
Australia, Singapore and Dubai to name a few. He says the time has come
for all Sri Lankans to unite setting aside caste, creed and race
barriers.
He is very concerned about the damage done by some FM channels to
Sinhala music and Sinhala language. He urged the Government to intervene
as a supervisory body to streamline standards of FM channels. According
to Victor, there must be a National Policy to set standards to art.
The folk music of Sri Lanka is rich with ingredients to develop
National Music. Victor Ratnayake commended the late Sooryashantha
Molligoda, Sunil Shantha and Pandit Amaradeva for the sincere efforts
made by them to bring richness to Sinhala song.
We came along on the path cleared by these greats and it is our
bounded duty to safeguard and extend the path for the future generations
to walk along, said Victor Ratnayake. |
