Happenings / People

Gypsies off to Melbourne

by Mahes Perera

Sri Lankans domiciled in Melbourne are looking forward to the 25th Anniversary Dinner Dance, and a mega concert organized by the St. Benedict's College Old Boys' Union, Victoria, which will be held on Saturday September 23. Guess who will be the band playing that evening? If you shouted out 'the Gypsies' then bully for you!

Yes the most popular band in Sri Lanka will be jetted across to Melbourne by the Benedictines of the Victoria Branch, the very first branch of the OBU to be inaugurated overseas in 1981.

The Silver Anniversary Gala Dinner Dance will be held at Kingston Town Hall, Moorabin and it is reported that all 800 tickets have been sold out and the Gypsies can look forward - to a rousing welcome by the Benedictines.

Prior to the dance the Gypsies will be in concert - 'Dance with the Gypsies' with Ronnie Leitch, which will be held at the same hall the day before, that's on Friday September 22 and here too we are told that all tickets have been sold out. The important factor is that the proceeds from these events will be sent to Colombo to support the College Playground Development Project and other development work at the College.

According to the organizers a distinguished gathering of Old Boys from around the globe is expected to grace both events. Elaborate arrangements, in what they call true Benedictine style, have been made to maintain the tradition of being the best organised and most sought after events envied by all.

Credit has to go to Glen Joseph, General Secretary of the OBU Victoria Branch, Ravi Irugalbandara, General Secretary of the Old Boys' Union who together with the committee of the Victoria Branch headed by the President Frank Perera have made interesting and innotive plans to project the image of the school at these events.

A first for a Sri Lankan School will be that the dance will be IP Cast live on SEETv worldwide via. The internet on September 23, for global viewing, and give the Gypsies and Ronnie the priviledge of being the first Sri Lankan musicians to be featured live at this historic occasion.

Sunil and the Gypsies will also perform in Perth, Sydney and Canberra during their three week tour of Australia.

Golden Melodies of 70's

The sounds of the seventies in the Sinhala music world seems to have a magnetic draw with audiences and as such the show "Golden Melodies of 70's" is bound to be a sell out. The show which will be held on Saturday September 30 at the Bishops College, Auditorium is organized by the Past Pupils Association of Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo 8, in association with Annesley Malawana.

Leading lights on the music scene are billed to perform at this mega show which will feature besides Annesley Malawana, Anil Bahareti, Rajiv Sebastian, Keerthie Pasquel, Sohan Weerasinghe, Ronnie Leitch, Mariazelle Gunatilleke and the Sirasa Super Stars Shihan and Malith. Musical backing will be provided by Annesley & the Super Chimes.

The show will be compered by the popular Vijaya Corea. Besides music, the visual feast will be the colourful items from Channa Wijewardena's Dance troupe.

The proceeds from the show will go towards assisting students from rural areas who were admitted to the school from the Grade 5 scholarship examinations to continue their academic career.

Sri Lankan Day in Toronto

Wonderland in Toronto, Canada was packed with thousands of Sri Lankans eagerly enjoying Sri Lankan Day 2006 which was held on Saturday August 19. The organising committee headed by the Consul General of Sri Lanka C. S. Poolokasingham spared no pains to make this mega event a success.

The musical show saw a galaxy of Sri Lankan singers led by Annesley Malawana, with his band Super Chimes providing the music for the stars to sing.

The other leading lights who captivated the audience with their vocal stylings were Dalreen Suby, Ronnie Leitch, Errol Fernando, Milroy Dharmaratne and Christopher Paul.

The entire group Annesley and the Super Chimes and the artistes were next in action in Vancouver on Saturday August 26 and the last concert date was on Saturday September 2 at Calgary. According to Annesley the response was terrific with invitations to return for more shows.

M.P.