Ushering in Christmas breeze

Isaac Kulendran's Mathura Strings Ensemble will be having their program entitled Ushering in Christmas Breeze after a lapse of four years. The main constraints were the A Level phobia and the tuition mania of his pupils.

The venue will be CSI Church at 17, Frances Road, Wellawatte, which is easily accessible from Marine drive. The program is scheduled to start at 6 pm and would go on for approximately one hour and 15 minutes.

A noteworthy feature this year is that apart from the Christians, there are Hindus, Buddhists and even Bahais taking part. The ensemble is classified into juniors, intermediates and seniors. The juniors are very recent beginners, while the seniors are seasoned players.

The service is strictly a program of worship and praise in accordance with Psalms 150 verse 4 Praise Him with Strings and flute. The program will consist of a wide variety of familiar and unfamiliar pieces within the reach of the three respective groups.

The program is not expected to be a concert performance, but the members will try to achieve a reasonable standard of performance. The star performer will be Saranga Cooray, a budding cellist who will play the famous Shubert's Ave Maria.

The piano accompanist is Premila Rajendra (nee Perinabanayagam) who has been the main anchor ever since the ensemble's inception in 2003.

Each item would be preceded by a relevant verse from the Bible. Another novel feature would be the reading of the Tamil Bible verse by a Sinhala pupil and the Sinhala verse by a Tamil pupil.

There will be a flute duet by the mother and daughter combination Lilani and Nilanthi Weerakoon, followed by the usual popular carols for the congregation to sing.

Admission is free and all are cordially invited. For any further details call 0112725131.