Fragrance of hope
By Esther Williams
Well-known music-makers of Colombo have been gearing up since December
for the concert, 'The Pink Rose' (A symbol of hope). Organised by the Lalith
Athulathmudali Centre, this musical extravaganza would present much-loved
Broadway hits. Among the many talented artistses putting the show together
are Menaka Sahabandu, Maxi Rozairo, Serela Athulathmudali, Sureka  Ameresinghe
and Jerome de Silva.
Apart from known singers, others fairly new to the music scene will
also join in. One such group is ADLIB, formed by eight ex-Peterites.
"To a little child who had lost her father, the Pink Rose was a symbol
of hope," explains Ms. Srimani Athulathmudali, the Chairperson of the Centre.
The proceeds of the concert will go to the Pink Rose Fund, which aims
to assist socially disadvantaged groups and differently abled children.
The Centre in its concern for 'special children' has already identified
those that would require financial aid.
On the programme, Anuruddha Lihinikaduwa, who has been to some of the
homes for disadvantaged children says, "You can't help but want to do something,
in any way you can".
The Lalith Athulathmudali Centre which has been engaged in welfare programmes
in the form of primary education, day care, awareness programmes, family
planning, rotational loans, etc., will also promote unknown talent through
this show.
While in practice, Menaka, Asitha, Mahen and others with all their enthusiasm
seemed in full form. 'Think of me', 'Love Changes Everything', and excerpts
from 'Phantom of the Opera' are some of the songs that will be performed
during the concert.
Veteran dramatist Jerome de Silva and Miss Athulathmudali are co-producing
the show, while the music will be provided by Soundari David, Niranjan
de Silva, Aruna Siriwardhane and Dilip Seneviratne. Roshan Wijeratna and
his team will assist with the lighting.
Tickets for the concert to be held at the Lionel Wendt on February 8
and 9, range from Rs. 100 to 500.
Gypsies in space
By Ashwin Hemmathagama
The premier Sri Lankan pop music group, 'Gypsies' went hi-tech with the
launching of their e-commerce site recently.
Gypsies' leader Sunil Perera launching the official website
The site www.gypsies.lk was officially launched with a grand hi-tech
musical concert at the BMICH recently. The Gypsies thus become, the first
ever Sri Lankan pop group to have an official e-commerce site.
The site will enable thousands of fans to purchase CDs on-line and make
international and local bookings for the band. It will also provide a live
communication channel for fans across the world with band members.
A large crowd enjoyed the scintillating music of Gypsies and saw the
hi-tech features that were demonstrated by Lanka Internet during the launch.
The concert was live over the Internet and watched by thousands of fans.
Pundit W.D. Amaradeva was the chief guest and Bhatiya and Santhush,
the popular musical duo, the guests of honour. |
