Arts

Towards formulating indigenous tradition in Western Music

Inaugural performance of Chamber Music Society of Colombo :

By Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

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The debut performance of the newly formed the Chamber Music Society of Colombo at the Russian Cultural Centre on the September 28 and 29, 2008. Rounding out the program is virtuoso Japanese pianist Masahiko Shinohara playing Mozart’s 14th Piano Concerto. Mr. Shinohara is known in private circles in Europe and Japan-as-a pianist of extraordinary depth and intellectual clarity. He is in Sri Lanka for an extended period to study Vipassana meditation. The Society’s Artistic Director has coaxed him to share his considerable talent to help the cause of the Society.

The Chamber Music Society of Colombo is the newest and one of the most exclusive classical ensembles in Sri Lanka. Something its Artistic Director, Lakshman Joseph de Saram wants to change. The Society remains on the cutting edge of programming with important commissions from iconic composers such as Dr. Premasiri Khemadasa and the reclusive American, Stephen Allen. With just over six performances in the last two years, all of them private, the members of the Society have finally decided to go public..

The idea of the Chamber Music Society of Colombo became conscious over ten years ago, when a group of musicians got together after an especially gruelling orchestral rehearsal and an equally uninspiring concert, and decided that chamber music was the only alternative. It was decided that Lakshman Joseph de Saram be given the responsibility to make it happen. It has taken him this long. A gestation period that Joseph de Saram describes as wholesomely organic. The private concerts held so far include the inaugural performance for President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees in 2007, which was a felicitation for maestro Premasiri Khemadasa, and a concert at the residence of the US Ambassador, on his invitation, in May this year. Both were prestigious and well received events.

The powerful Board of Patrons of the Society include the Minister of Culture as well as a veritable who’s who of illustrious Deshamanya’s, and the only living recipient of Sri Lanka’s highest award, the Sri Lankabhimanya. The mission of the Chamber Music Society of Colombo is to give classical music-loving audiences in Sri Lanka a very special concert experience, says Joseph de Saram. Unlike most forms of music, chamber music appeals to a particularly discerning type of audience. Chamber music audiences the world over are unique in this sense. The Society believes that here in Sri Lanka there is such an audience, which it hopes to build further by giving regular, carefully planned concerts. Music education is part of its project.

The other very important aspect of the Society’s mission is to encourage new music, by commissioning new works from living composers. It is especially interested in music written by Sri Lankan composers, and music that draws on Sri Lankan sources of inspiration. There is at present no dedicated platform where Sri Lankan composers can present their original work, and gauge the public response to it. Both the artistes and the music-loving public are the poorer for this. By commissioning new compositions and introducing them to audiences, the Society would help create an environment that gives these composers their due place in society.

This is perhaps the most pioneering aspect of its work. The upcoming concerts contain two very special features. World premiere “The Dawn of Kandula” by Stephen Allen, an essay for chamber orchestra and percussion, a highly charged work based on the chapter from the Mahavamsa that depicts the elephant Kandula serving King Dutugemunu as his fearless mount in the decisive battle that led to the unification of Sri Lanka. Stephen Allen, a Californian who now lives on a mountain retreat in Kandy, works on his music in solitude; cherishing the silence the surroundings provide him. Allen received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music composition at the California Institute of the Arts.

He studied composition with Mel Powell, Mort Subotnick, Leonard Stein, and others. He has written songs as well as orchestral and chamber works, including works based on Sri Lankan themes with reference to historical figures such as King Kasyapa and Viharamahadevi. Joseph de Saram describes his music as deeply felt, mostly tonal with elements of early Stravinsky and Copland woven in, with extremely discreet references to Bruckner, Allen’s favourite composer. The Chamber Society is fast gaining a reputation for its fiery and powerfully persuasive interpretations of the classics, and their total commitment to headlining new music of Sri Lanka and the region.

A platform for some of the finest musicians in the country. Joseph de Saram says the unique personality that each player brings to the conductor-less ensemble, forms its collective pursuit of the highest ideals in music. The Chamber Music Society of Colombo depends for its success on the hard work of these dedicated musicians at present. It is also deeply indebted to its distinguished fellowship of Charter Benefactors for their significant material support.These are awe-inspiring acts of generosity that can come only from a true understanding and sharing of the ideals we believe in, says the Artistic Director. Without them the revolutionary concept behind the birth of this orchestra could not have been pursued. The Principal Patron of the Chamber Music Society of Colombo is Dilmah Tea, a company well known for its commitment to Sri Lanka and its passion for excellence.

AFTER TSUNAMI: SURVIVORS “VIEWS”

Exhibition of photographs 18th - 30th September 2008:

AFTER TSUNAMI: THE SURVIVORS “VIEWS”, An exhibition of photographs presented by Jeremy Villy, Philippe Benassi and Mara Heredero Jimnez in collaboration with “Vues D’un Monde” (Views of a World), will be held from September 18 to September 30 at Alliance Francoise de Colombo.

“Vues D’un Monde” (Views of a World), a young cultural association has already implemented numerous projects on global photographic meetings since 2004. Their joint vision is based on the knowledge of the “other” acquired through subjective photographic representations.

One of the Association’s goals has been to expand into new projects focusing on interactions between development cooperation and artistic expression. For this purpose we submitted this project to the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation and Development (AECID) in 2006, which has become our first partner in this kind of project in Banda Aceh (Indonesia), and now we have the opportunity to implement it in Sri Lanka.

Vue D’un Monde (VDM) and the Project with International Cooperation AECID expressed interest in the VDM project and suggested getting in touch with some of the organizations who are working with local communities in Sri Lanka. The main advantage in working directly with local organizations is getting to know the conditions on the field and to establish links between the local communities and VDM. Field coordinators of VDM will spend six weeks in these communities and will provide a digital camera to the participants and workshops to facilitate technical support.

Their objective being to photograph their everyday lives some years after the Tsunami. After a short technical training on photography, the participants are given the creative liberty to select the pictures they want to show and to share with each other. After six weeks on the field, they will submit their precious work to us. Each participant will display their selected photographs at the exhibition.

The main objective of this Project is to gain knowledge of the environment of a specific place by focusing on the survivors of the catastrophe and the organisations that are helping them to rebuild their lives. The basic idea of gaining knowledge of others through the use of photography has remained the same as in the association’s previous projects, but in this instance it has been applied to the field of International Cooperation in Sri Lanka.

Exhibition of paintings

Exhibition of paintings by Asanga Padmal Nelumdeniya will be held on September 19, 20 and 21, at Lionel Wendt. The exhibition commences at 3.00 p.m. on September 19 and continues from 9.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. on September 20 and 21, 2008.