A common passion
Above all else, a love for music coupled with the intention of hanging out, resulted in a close group of friends spending almost every minute of their free time outside of lectures, on the thing they loved the most.
What started off as a series of fun meet-ups with the music laid on, soon became the rehearsals of Vocal Enigma-Bangalore’s number one choral group, three fund raising concerts and now in Sri Lanka, a debut performance which promises to span roughly four centuries of music: from Vivaldi to Green Day, and several genres and performers between.
Taking the stage of the British School Auditorium on September 1 and 2, ‘From a Distance’ by the Sri Lankan chapter of Vocal Enigma is directed by Maneesh Dassanayake (the founder of the group in India) and follows the Vocal Enigma tradition of performing for a cause. An objective of the show is to raise funds for the Children’s Ward at the Maharagama Cancer Hospital.
“You could say that it all started ‘from a distance,’” comments director Maneesh Dassanayake. “When Vocal Enigma was established, there was no telling where things would lead, and we are really excited about what lies ahead for the Sri Lankan chapter of the group.”
A past pupil of St. Peter’s College, Maneesh studied music and singing under Joy Ferdinando and Priyanthi Seneviratne, and established VE in Sri Lanka in April this year. “I had sung in a few choirs, and to start off I sent off an email to people who I thought might be interested in getting a new group together, and took things from there.”
The group, now consisting of 30 members, includes singers who find their comfort zones in several genres, and thrive on the challenge of perfecting new genres.
“They are a fun group to work with,” comments Maneesh. “ They are all unique and it can be hard sometimes, to strike a balance in terms of what we perform and how we do so, but this is a fun challenge. I believe that the identity of a choir lies in its dynamics and the variations in the style of performance; and we focus on these aspects as much as possible. In this sense it is not just a choral performance but one which incorporates choreography and some elements of theatre to keep things interesting.
Kavan Rodrigo (38) looks back on the experience as an interesting learning curve.
“We have been working on the show since May,” he says, and the best part of the experience is the feeling of knowing that we are all pursuing a common passion. More than anything else, it is the love for music that keeps us juggling careers and other commitments with practices, and investing all our commitment and energy in creating something great.”
“Even though most of us met for the first time at practices, we have all grown very close,” adds Liza De Jong (22). Its been really exhilarating to see how all our ideas have been put together; and to see how far we have come as performers. Maneesh always brings out the best in us, helping us reach potential that most of us did not even realize we had.”
Tickets for ‘From a Distance’, priced at Rs, 1000, 750, 600 and 300 are available at the British School Auditorium.
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