Await a celebration of the sounds of tradition and fusion
At the news conference announcing the event: L to r: Lakshman Joseph de Saram, Soundarie David, Norwegian Ambassador Thorbjørn Gaustadsæther, Kaushalya Pereira and Arunthathy Sri Ranganathan
Music is known to bring people together and help them heal. With this in mind, the Music Cooperation (a partnership between Sri Lanka and Norway) established an annual music festival in 2009 whose venue alternates between Jaffna and Galle. The seventh edition of the festival – the Galle Music Festival 2016, will be held on May 14 in Galle.
The Sevalanka Foundation is organising the festival in partnership with Concerts Norway. The festival will feature many local artistes performing individually and collaboratively, as well as popular Indian folk fusion group Raghu Dixit. Performers from all parts of Sri Lanka will come together to interact, enjoy their respective cultures and celebrate their similarities and differences in musical traditions.
Speaking at a news conference held to announce the event, Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Thorbjørn Gaustadsæther stated he was looking forward to witnessing his first music festival here. He also added that bringing musicians from all ethnic and religious groups of Sri Lanka is a way to promote reconciliation because festivals transcend individual and generational differences.
This year, the morning programme will be presented in collaboration with the Galle Good Market and will feature Sri Lanka’s creative heritage of art, music and cuisine. The event will have special activities for children and is a family event. The evening programme is set to celebrate the diversity of Sri Lankan traditions with an emphasis on folk traditions. The performances will include the Sufi art form from Akkaraipaththu, Puli Kooththu art form from Batticaloa and Thappu Drummers from Killinochchi. The collaborative performances will include Urban Rappers from Nuwara Eliya, Galle and Colombo as well as the University Students Collaboration of the universities of Peradeniya, Jaffna and the Eastern university.
Entrance to both programmes is free.
A concert in Colombo is always held following the music festival and this time is no different. The Colombo Concert will feature the Raghu Dixit Project from India who will perform a 90-minute set at the concert. Tickets are to be sold for the event. The proceeds from the Colombo concert will go towards the Small Grants component of the Music Festival. The Small Grants are offered on a competitive basis to musicians who conduct music programmes at the grassroots level in schools with youth, women and other key target groups.
| The programme The morning performance in Galle on May 14 will be held at the Court Square (Galle Fort) from 10 a.m. to 1p.m. The evening performance will be at the Samanala Grounds (Galle Fort). The Colombo concert will be held on May 15 at the Western Province Aesthetic Resort, Colombo 7 at 6.30 p.m. Tickets will be on sale for the Colombo concert. |