Treating the Sri Lankan audience to something unique and innovative, Thriloka – a bohemian band, has teamed up with the ‘Contemporary Chamber Orchestra’ to bring you Thrilogy.
The challenge of playing alongside an orchestra has not been attempted by local outfits before. Setting the ball rolling, Thriloka will have initiated the concept, so you can be sure the concert will be a refreshing experience.
The 18 piece ‘Contemporary Chamber Orchestra’ which will be conducted by Manilal Weerakoon, will provide a rich classical semblance to the music by Thriloka.
Defining the genre of music played by Thriloka is a bit of a challenge. Their music cannot be pigeonholed into a particular genre simply because their sound is a concoction of varying types of music. There are a distinctive five main components of which their music consists. Those components include, Sri Lankan traditional folk music, Ragas, Jazz harmonies, progressive rock and funk grooves.
Each of the five components is clearly introduced by each of the five members of the band. The band members have their individual influences and weave those styles into the final piece of musical composition.
The keyboardist and jazz influence of the band, Eshantha Peiris says, “we like to think that the five of us coming from very different backgrounds with very different ideas, is what has given rise to the blanket term ‘Fusion’ which describes our band.” He adds, “What we do is pick a tune and find the essence of the style and then take another style and put it together, there by creating something that actually makes sense musically rather putting two things together and hoping it works.”
Expressing what can be expected of the concert, Eshantha shares “it’s not your average rock concert and neither is it your average classical concert.” “You have to have an open mind as to what to expect,” adds Pabalu Wejegoonawardane, the percussionist.
Providing more insight as to what can be expected of the concert, Manilal says “Sinhala folk music is complex as it is, and to combine that with Jazz harmonies will certainly add to the complexity of the music played at Thrilogy. With that in mind, this will not be the sort of concert where you can sit back, relax and just let the music wash over you. It requires the intellectual participation of the audience in order for them to understand the music.”
Describing the challenge of performing with an orchestra, Eshantha expresses, “it’s definitely different from playing on our own. Because, when we play on our own there’s just the five of us and we have the freedom to communicate with each other. Not that this is limiting, but there are restraints. After all, we are coordinating with an extra 18 musicians. We want to let them be heard as well. The concert is not of Thriloka with an orchestra backing us, what we have intended is to share the stage with them.”
For Thriloka this is not just another concert. They believe that maintaining the traditional Sri Lankan folk music in their compositions, while incorporating other genres of modern music, makes it more relevant and appealing at present. They see it as an ideal way to keep the music indigenous to Sri Lankan culture alive and hopefully immortal. By introducing an orchestra, they are kicking it up and making it fresh and interesting.
“We think it is important as musicians and in terms of music in Sri Lanka. It encourages the classical musicians to broaden out, as well as urges our audience to broaden out in terms of what they listen to. Going beyond that, we believe this is important for the cultural future of the country,” says Eshantha.
He goes on to say, “In order for a culture to be stable we feel as musicians that the arts play a vital role in making a culture feel alive. I can’t personally imagine a culture without music or art. Those factors are facing the risk of fading away due to the lack of financial support, primarily because no one thinks they are important enough. To be true to the matter, until the musicians in the country can build up a following that can support itself the arts, will have to be funded by government or private institutions, people who realise that the arts is important to the culture as economic development.” Tourism being one of the largest revenue haulers in the island, keeping the culture alive and hip certainly is essential.
Thrilogy, is presented by ‘The Fusion Dhyan Arts Circle,’ which was set up by Thriloka. The concert will be held on Friday, June 12 at the Bishop’s College Auditorium and will commence at 7:30pm. Tickets priced at Rs. 800/- and Rs. 600/- can be purchased at the Bishop’s College Auditorium and Vibrations. For advance ticket reservations, call 077-3156711 or 077-5554848. The Sunday Times is the print media sponsor for the event.
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