Music for a cause
Pianist and conductor Joshua Asokan will bring 30 singers to St Paul’s Church on Kynsey Road; the young musician, stepping into the shoes of conductor, will guide these singers through a carefully chosen programme of classical music for a great cause. “Sing Gloria!” will raise funds for child survivors of sexual abuse, to be directed towards Emerge Lanka and LEADS.
Joshua, 20, is using funds he raised from a piano and flute recital with Tilanka Jayamanna from last November for this show. He staged a similar show in 2014, when he was still in school, to raise funds for abandoned children on the streets. “Helping children is a cause that’s very close to my heart,” he explains. “So of course this time too we will direct the proceeds from this show towards two organizations working with child survivors of sexual abuse.”
In January 2016, the National Child Protection Authority reported that over 100,00 cases of child abuse were reported from around the island in 2015. 735 of these cases were on sexual harassment and 433 cases of rape, with 365 cases on grave sexual abuse. Alarmingly, this is thought to be just the tip of the iceberg. Many such cases go unreported-the reluctance to report worsened by a long, arduous process once the case is reported. Young children abused sexually are separated from the perpetrator-this means a long time in a state facility, where education and counselling standards are often not what they could be. Organizations such as LEADS and Emerge have partnered with the government to ease the burden on the system and to provide the opportunity of a brighter future for these children.
Joshua has put more thought than most into choosing this particular cause. He first read about Emerge Lanka’s work online, and personally visited the organization’s Colombo offices to find out more. Emerge has quietly worked behind the scenes for several years, working with teenage survivors of sexual abuse in Sri Lanka to help them to heal and develop skills for self-sufficiency. The show’s funds will be directed in particular towards Emerge’s Past Participants Scholarship Fund that enables higher education and training opportunities for the children who have been through the programme.
The other organizations, LEADS, has a programme known as ESCAPE (Eradicating Sexual Child Abuse, Prostitution and Exploitation) that works with children who have been through experiences of sexual abuse and exploitation. The organization also operates a short-stay, government registered residential therapeutic centre for survivors known as “Kedalla”. Funds from this show will be directed towards Kedalla, which suffered heavy damage in the recent floods. At the show, Joshua and his handpicked choir will perform a selection of classical music. “Each singer is accomplished and has sung with other choirs,” he notes.
The focal point of the show will be a 20 minute long piece by John Rutter, alongside the work of composers such as Craig Courtney, Bob Chilcott and Eric Whitacre.
“Sing Gloria!” happens on July 30 at
St Paul’s Church on Kynsey Road, 7 pm. Tickets priced at Rs 1000 may be reserved by calling 0769621811 or 0716014509