'After all it’s Opera' by the Menaka Singers Opera Ensemble to get underway at the Russian Cultural Centre

During rehearsals while Menaka De Fonseka Sahabandu plays the piano, her students sing, and the power of their vibrato can be felt all around the room. Menaka Singers Opera Ensemble has been practising long and hard in preparation of their concert.

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By Tera Jayewardene

‘After All It’s Opera’ will be taking place on the 21st at 7:30 pm at the Russian Cultural Centre. Tickets are priced at 1,500 rupees and are available at Autodrome Union Place. The event is sponsored byEarl De Fonseka Trust and Jetwing 7 is the official hospitality sponsor.Opera masterpieces from Don Giovanni , Cosi fan Tutte, Marriage of Figaro, Barber of Seville, The Enchantress,UnBallo in Maschera, La Boheme, The Pearl Fishers, Elisir d' Amore amongst others will be performed. The students that will be taking part in the concert are HiruniPerera, JehaniGamalathge, Rachel Holliday, SamaliLiyanage, EmeshWijewardene, RavinduPerera and NishanthaWarnakulasuriya.

The Meneka Singers Opera Ensemble have previously performed the full length productions of The Pearl Fishers by Bizet,Carmen by Bizet, and Si J' etais Roi by Adolph Adam. As well as performing highlights of Marriage of Figaro by Mozart and The Barber of Seville by Rossini.

For the last three and half years Menaka, a teacher of Piano and singing for 35 years has been working with Barbara Segal. Who has taken 23 principal Opera roles in 23 different countries. Together they have been working with a selected group of vocally gifted and hardworking students of Menaka. Barbara has been conducting masterclasses teaching them technique and interpretation along with identifying the repertoire for each individual performer. A lot of hard work and dedication has been put forth everyone in the group and they are all buzzing with excitement for their concert.

Menaka will be playing the piano while Barbara before every aria will explain the background and story so that the audience will be able have some sort of understanding. There will also be a special guest performance of by Christopher Thornton-Holmes, an opera veteran who has performed all around the world. Christopher will also be hosting masterclasses, giving the chance to Menaka and Barbara’s students the chance of a lifetime to learn more and improve their skills.

Barbara talks about the importance of dedication, hard work and practice that is needed to sing Opera, and the hard work her students put in to develop and maintain their voices. She adds that since opera is sung in a language that most viewers don’t understand, her students need to be able to learn and understand every word they sing so they can convey that emotion to the audience. In the middle of a song Barbara would often stop and ask what a particular word means. She is extremely strict in that aspect but Samali, one of Barbara’s students says, “her being strict is a good thing”, it helps them learn the aria literally and in context so that they can be better singers.

Barbra does not charge any money for her master classes, she does them free of charge. She does this because she believes that it is unfair to cap her classes at just the wealthy. Rather she wants to foster the talents of people who have an interest in Opera. It is wrong to exclude people due to wealth Barbara believes.The ticket prices for the concert are affordable for that very reason, anyone who likes opera can watch it.

EmeshWijewardene is a final year law student and is hoping to join a young artists program in Europe in an Opera house. He is extremely dedicated towards making a career in opera, even traveling twice a week to Mata to have masterclasses with Barbara and taking language classes to better aid him in singing. During the concert he will be singing cheGelidamanina as well as the Pearl Fishers duet and O SoaVeFanciulla. If Emesh makes a career in Opera no one would be more happier than Barbara and Menaka, who are supporting him endlessly in his musical pursuits.

“Why can’t we have a Sri Lankan singer everybody has heard of not just in Sri Lanka but worldwide. The only thing that is stopping them is opportunity, so my desire is to give them the opportunity.” says Barbara, perfecting encapsulating everything she done, brining well known and renowned opera singers to teach them, giving out her time and energy to teach.

Hours of hard work and dedication will all culminate on the 21st of November at the Russian cultural centre. Don’t miss your chance to witness the homegrown operatic marvels and head over to Autodrome Union Place or call +94714811228 to get tickets.