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| Sunday, 6 March 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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The biggest extravaganza ever by Mahes Perera Never before has the entire musicians fraternity of Sri Lanka, Western and Oriental, come together for a mega, blockbuster two-day concert to raise funds. But now they have to help children affected by the tsunami devastation.
A committee of selected musicians responsible for the entire arrangements will work along with the One Trust, conceptualised by Cargills, to present 'Musicians for the People - The One Trust.' At a media briefing held on Monday February 28, the energetic committee of musicians revealed that the concert on Friday April 1 will be by the Western musicians, while the Sinhala and Tamil musicians will take the stage on April 2. The venue which originally was to have been the CR & FC grounds, will now be held at the Race Course grounds Colombo. The committee claims that the concert will continue from 7 p.m. until dawn on both days and quite naturally for a such a worthy cause all participating professional musicians will be performing on a complimentary basis. The total proceeds of the concerts will be utilised to provide, urgently required educational facilities to affected schools and school children in the Ampara, Mullaitivu and Hambantota districts, with the focus on primary education. Musicians for the People - The One Trust' will be the biggest ever musical extravaganza presented in Sri Lanka and will be filmed by the Rupavahini Corporation the electronic sponsor and with the sale of the ensuing DVD/VCD, the musicians hope to earn a million rupees towards the fund. The Western Concert will feature 35 bands and 25 solo artistes, the latter number according to the Committee should increase in a few days time, as all musicians are required to officially sign in their participation. A variety of musical genres - pop, rock, retro, R&B, rap, country, fusion will be presented. The Oriental concert by Sinhala and Tamil singers and musicians with feature nearly 100 solo artistes and eight core backing bands. Each artiste, according to the Committee will sing one song while the bands will be given the opportunity to sing two or three songs. Tickets will be priced at Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500 for the Western concert, while for the Oriental concert tickets will be Rs. 500 and Rs. 100, and will be on sale from Tuesday March 15. All Cargills outlets, Suntel, Odel, Torana and Clancy's will be selling tickets for your easy purchase. The committee of musicians hope to earn a total income of Rupees 14.3 million inclusive of the sale of souvenirs and banners and as the concerts will have a carnival atmosphere, there will be food and drink stalls for the enjoyment of the audience. More details could be obtained from the official website www.musiciansforthepeople.com. Keep the dates April 1 and 2 free and participate with the musicians to help children affected by the tsunami catastrophe. ************** Bombay Dreams and Yolande by Mahes Perera Yolande Bavan: The name won't ring a bell to today's junk food eaters and pop hungry youth. But to music lovers who were in the thick of the entertainment scene in the late 50s and into the 60s, the name shines beacon bright.
It was Yolande Bavan who had the honour of singing with the famed US singers Lambert and Hendricks when the duo invited her to perform with them at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960. Dressed in a red sari, Yolande Bavan with her strong mellifluous voice was an instant hit that memorable evening in Newport. She is the only Sri Lankan who sang with such jazz greats on an international stage and the album that was released was swiftly lapped up globally. Besides being a wonderful singer when she was with us, performing at night clubs, and at her weekly radio shows, Yolande Bavan has another facet to her career and that is acting-Shakespearean drama her penchant. While moving up on the elevator to Yolande's apartment, (she is on a short holiday in Sri Lanka,) we wondered about the surprise that she was going to spring on us. The happy moments of watching her from the controlling cubicle at the then Radio Ceylon, going live on her weekly show in the evenings, flashed by in my mind. Gosh! it's been twenty something years since she made a return to Sri Lanka and would she look the same, talk the same and be jovial too, like we remembered her? Yes, she is the same Yolande we knew over the years. Happy to meet you, effusive and exuberant. What's the surprise we queried? The surprise was that Yolande had just finished acting in Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of A. R. Rahman's Bombay Dreams which had a run at Broadway Theatre from April last year and closed on the first of January this year. "It was great fun and the cast was wonderful. We had 39 of them and two roles for those over 40. I was the grandmother Shanthi. There were Manu Narayan who played Akash and Anisha Nagarajan played Priya. The grandmother was the pivotal force, the steady influence on the kids, but gets betrayed by her grandson. It's a Romeo and Juliet in a mild form and Bollywood in full strength!. It was good" comments Yolande. Music and acting comes easily to Yolande and Shakespearean theatre she enjoys. She has played in Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Ceaser and Cleopatra and several other plays in London and Broadway. Last year in the spring in London, Yolande who was closely associated with the late singer Billie Holiday was invited to perform in the Billie Holiday Tribute staged at the Barbican London. Titled Billie and Me the show featured ten women singers including Dee Dee Bridgewater and Cassandra Wilson. "I did a narration and sang 'For All We Know' with a 24 piece orchestra and this song was a fitting finale to Billie" expresses Yolande. You've been away such a long time could you single out a few happy memories? "The greatest was singing with Lambert and Hendricks-so unexpected and at such short notice. Then of course my performance of Lady McBeth in the 80's at Cleven Playhouse, Shakespeare in London in Cleopatra and Midsummer Night's Dream. I must mention the play Tater (Gypsy) a Norwegian one, I sang an entire score in Norwegian. The American cast had to sing and talk in Norwegian". When will we Sri Lankans hear you in concert? "I'd love to sing to my people, I hope someone will bring me down in May, because then the young pianist Dinuk Wijeratne will be in Sri Lanka, He's a highly talented musician and I would enjoy singing with him". Let's hope the concert in May will become a reality! *************** Fusion concert of a different vibe A kaleidoscope of local musicians will create a different musical experience when Unity in Diversity, a fusion concert which will be staged at the Bishop's College Auditorium today. Ravi Bandu Vidyapathi, Sarangan Sri Ranganathan, Upula Madushankar, Janath Warakagoda, Derek Wickramanayake, Ratnam Ratnathurai, Billy Fernando, Srikanth Selvaraj are some of the musicians who will be participating and exploring the boundaries of music.
The proceeds from the concert will go towards the Crippled Children's Aid Association of Sri Lanka, building and medical fund for the Sevana Lama Nivasa, Kotte which houses over 30 disabled children. A key aspect of this home is that it ensures that the children receive corrective surgery and physiotherapy to enable increased mobility. Tickets are available at Lalitha Jewellers, R.A. de Mel Mawatha, Colombo. ************ Do It Yourself Crafts : fun with paper tole Want to learn how to make paper tole pictures at home ? Ramyali Leelaratne, an award winning craftswoman has introduced the 'Latest in Design,' do it yourself craft kits with instructions in both English and Sinhala.
Ramyali has over fifteen years of experience in conducting classes in fabric and saree painting, patchwork, jewellery making, embroidery, Totsuka, paper toling, pottery and flower making among others. She is a veteran in creating new techniques in craftsmanship. Some of this include flower making, ornamental plant making, coconut shell, sea shell and paper jewellery making, etc. Her course in saree painting gained much popularity in Sri Lanka and provided many with a means of lucrative self-employment. Ramyali Leelaratne is confident of her latest creative offering finding
its niche in the crafts world not only here in Sri Lanka but overseas as
well. She is planning to donate 25% of proceeds from every foreign order to
the State Tsunami Development Fund. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Well over twenty musical and percussion instruments will be used to bring
out the texture and spectrum of sounds as well as the creativity and
spontaneity of the musicians. 
These include the cushion cover sewing project available in three
separate designs, four paper toling picture kits with five copies of each
picture included and one stitching kit together with a printed colour
canvas. 
