A song is more than a melody for this singing doc
The beginnings: The Winslow Six in the good old days
When the evening shadows fall
And the last sunbeam fades in the dark
All the flowers fade away
Having sung throughout the day
Birds are flying to their nests
Looking forward to their rest….
Wrote and sang 16-year-old Manella Fernando, 51 years ago. Two years later Manella, together with her four sisters and brother launched the band ‘Winslow Six’ named after her then six-year-old brother Winslow. For the six Fernando siblings music was part of everyday life, owing to the musical gene and Moratuwa- the land of song in which they grew up. “I can’t be without music, I’m dead without it,” vivacious Dr. Manella Joseph admits with a smile, sitting down with the Sunday Times just two weeks ahead of ‘Lyrics and Melodies’- her 8th solo concert in aid of Students with Special Needs from the University of Peradeniya. The concert is organized by the Student Welfare Unit of the Peradeniya University Alumni.
A mixed bag of talent is essentially what Dr. Joseph is. A Pathologist by profession, there is a gifted teacher, talented seamstress, versatile composer and vocalist all in her. For her, a song is not just a melody, but a slice of life. Be it Sophistication (her first published song) Eyathmalak men, Evening, Picnic on the beach, Wake up or Blessed are the ones, each lyric of hers- be it in English or Sinhala, to which she lends her timbre, is a personal experience.
Since her maiden solo concert several years ago, all her musical exercises had been labours of love – all in the name of a good cause. Her concert held in October last year was in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis Association of Lanka. A nightingale committed to making a change in the lives of others, true to her lyrics, blessed are the ones that hold a light, blessed are the ones a star in the night, Dr. Joseph adds, “it is only the blessed that can make a change in the lives of others.”
Dr. Manella Joseph. Pic by Indika Handuwala
More an actress than a vocalist during her schooldays at Our Lady Of Victories Convent Moratuwa and later at Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya, for young Manella, growing up in the ‘Swinging 60s’ of Ceylon was a sheer bliss. Picnics on the beach, ‘Sunday Choice’ on Radio Ceylon and good books complete with Jim Reeves and Shirley Bassey in the backdrop, set the scene for the doctor-to-be. “We were so ‘naïve’ and thought that the world was too big for us,” recollects Dr. Joseph with a chuckle. An era of radio listeners and voracious readers, the imagination of the young minds was fired without technology as it is now, she avers. An all-island piano accordion champion of Ceylon at just 11 years, Dr. Joseph is still partial to the ‘old fashioned’ instrument which she includes from time-to-time in her fund raising concerts. An accomplished pianist as well, her musical gene is passed on to her two daughters Dillain and Dillai who had joined her on numerous occasions on stage.
The special artiste at her upcoming concert on June 24 at Namel-Malini Punchi Theatre, Borella, is her young granddaughter who will enthral the audience with some of her grandmother’s earliest lyrics penned down as a teenager. A mixed line-up of Dr. Joseph’s originals in both English and Sinhala as well as several evergreens of Rukmani Devi and several more celebrities rendered voice by Dr. Joseph await the audience. Adding flavour to the show is a Hindi number from the vocalist. A fusion of western and eastern instruments including tabla will back the vocals.
Winslow Six which was launched through the Sooriya Label of records in 1969 while young Manella was awaiting her Medical College admission, ignited the lyrical spark in her. Along with numbers as Duwa Roshi and Ran Monarun composed by Clarence Wijewardene for the band, came her own work such as Wake up by me and Picnic on the beach. Dr. Joseph recollects with nostalgia, the liberal family environment enabled by her parents to nourish their musical faculties. “It was many years later I realized the wisdom of my father, who was musically inclined in his own way, who was selective of where we performed as a band. We were never permitted to perform for any commercial gains but purely out of passion.” The passion still remains fervent in Dr. Joseph- the only sibling out of Winslow Six who continued to feed her musical gene amidst her academic and professional commitments later in life. All her siblings, equally academically and professionally accomplished as she is, are today domiciled abroad. “I’m too rooted here to be moving anywhere else,” she smiles.
What made Manella take up medicine? “I never gave it any serious thought. I had enough marks for Medical College, so I thought why not?” recollects the Consultant she is today. At Medical College, Manella earned the nickname ‘Pocket Radio’ – literally for her petite build and figuratively for her musical spirit! Coming on board the Medical Faculty Band – Regenerations as the only female vocalist at the time, Dr. Joseph still recollects fondly how she performed even on the eve of examinations! “We didn’t take things too seriously at that time,” she adds. With her doctor-husband Joe beside her, it has been an eventful journey for her. Lover of Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Noeline Honter, Priyanthi Jalaldeen, Pandith Amaradeva and Amarasiri Peiris, Dr. Joseph is also a fan of several young artistes in whom she sees talent in abundance. Navigating between her private practice, lecturing hours, musical escapades and her grandmotherly duties, Dr. Joseph juggles them all, calling herself ‘an Energizer Battery!
Lyrics and Melodies will go on boards of Namel-MaliniPunchi Theatre, Borella on June 24 at 7 p.m. For tickets priced at Rs. 1000, 1500 and 2000 call Dr. Manella Joseph on 0777188028.