Await all kinds of music
View(s):Music lovers can experience an eclectic array of music including, folk, contemporary, classical, and fusion performed by local and international bands when the Galle Music Festival 2014 concert is held on March 15 from 4 p.m. until 11.30 p.m. at the Moon Bastion, in Galle Fort followed by the Colombo Concert on March 17 at the Galle Face Green, between 5.30 p.m. and 10.30 p.m. All events are free, organised by the Sevalanka Foundation, together with Royal Norwegian Embassy, Rikskonsertene, and Aru Sri Art Theatre.
Some of the bands to look forward to:
Ten Sing (Norway)
Ten Sing consists of 20 young people aged 19-21 from all over Norway who create a show consisting of different creative performing arts such as song, music, dance, drama, video/media and other creative expressions.
Shironamhin (Bangladesh)
Shironamhin began their journey in 1996 by jamming and performing in campus and on the streets. They are currently the most popular band in Bangladesh and have a unique lyrical ability to fuse together a wide variety of instruments from all over the world.
Grupo Roda Viva (Brazil)
Brazilian musical group “Roda Viva” (wheel of life) consists of young musicians from the city of Niterói (Rio de Janeiro). The focus of their group is to rev- ive samba and ‘choro’ the popular traditional musical genres in Brazil.
DonnBhat and Passenger Revelator (India)
DonnBhat and Passenger Revelator from Mumbai started performing in 2013 and in just one year have created a unique space for themselves in rock, electro, psychedelic, fusion, folk, Dn”B and electronic music.
Sa breen Association for Artistic Development (Palestine)
Sabreen, a hub for individuals and organizations from all artistic backgrounds and disciplines, conducts school concerts, live performances, and music education workshops for students, music teachers, and the general public in the Palestinian territories including Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. This is their fourth consecutive year of performing at GMF and Jaffna Music Festival (JMF) in Sri Lanka.
Local artists:
Oriental Music Orchestra
Sri Lanka’s first multi-ethnic oriental music orchestra, showcasing diverse ethnic and regional musical traditions.
Perspectives of Freedom
The classical fusion group, “Perspectives of Freedom” believe in incorporating South Asian values, ethics, and heritage into their music.
Folk groups:
Tony Hassan and Orchestra
Tony Hassan’s group’s main forte is music from the 60’s to the 90’s and contemporary music in different languages such as Hindi, Sinhala, Tamil, and Malay along with Western Oriental folk and pop music catering to a wide audience.
Look out for Lanka’s only limbo dance veteran, Ruffin Saldeen.
Sokari Dance in Sri Lanka
Sokari, a traditional dramatic performance, a ritual offering to Goddess Pattini is unique to the Kandy area and mostly performed on the Kamatha (threshing floor). This year a group from Kalundewa performs Sokari.
Isai Nadakam
Isai Nadakam is performed mainly during Hindu ritual ceremonies like Mahasivarathri and Navarathri.
Nondi Nadakam
Nondi Nadagam, one of the oldest plays amongst the Tamils is performed by Then modikoothu from Batticaloa. It contains melodious songs and graceful dance movements. Produced by the Department of Music, Swami Vipulanandha Institute of Aesthetic Studies of the Eastern University, and assisted by the Theatre Lab, Batticaloa with artist direction by Prof. S. Maunaguru and assistant director, Ms. Priyadharshini Jatheeswaran.
Contemporary groups:
M arians
The well-loved Marians, a nine piece band from Chilaw led by Nalin Perera is known for their magical live performances.
Naadro
Local masters of percussion, Naadro, will have audiences entranced by their electrifying rhythm..
NATANDA
Modern dance company nATANDA pushes the boundaries of dance theatre, looking beyond form, physicality, culture and geography, to promote community dance education.
Thriloka
Thriloka is a fusion band influenced by traditional Sri Lankan music and psychedelic and progressive rock, with an emphasis on improvisation.
Local groups
Ranwala Brigade
The late Lionel Ranwala, archivist and developer of traditional Sri Lankan music began the Ranwala Foundation to preserve Sri Lankan traditional folk music, Now his son Sahan Ranwala continues his work and their group has toured Australia, China, India, Cyprus and many other countries. In 2011, the Ranwala Foundation won first place at the International Folk Music Awards which was held in Shanjiaji-China.
SANGAMAM
Sangamam’s mission is to empower and educate local Violinists.