Colombo Music Festival next week

by Nilma DOLE

For the first time in Sri Lanka's music history, the inaugural Colombo Music Festival will be held from August 23 to 26 at the Waters Edge.

Haaida Galely told the Sunday Observer, "I've always wanted to do something for my country and with my background in music, I thought now was the best time for it. There will be several participants, not only from Sri Lanka, who will put their music caps together for the betterment of music in Sri Lanka but international artistes and experts from countries such as the UK, India, Norway, the USA, Brazil, Germany, Algeria, Japan, the Maldives, Italy, Canada, New Zealand, Dubai (UAE), Hong Kong and Russia."

According to Haadia, international music labels Sony, Universal, World Wide Records, The Fridge and Dubai have also confirmed their presence which would help give young artistes the platform to prove their worth.

An oriental musician and a talented sitarist herself, Haaida has even had the privilege of playing for the great Ravi Shankar. With a theme, "Senses and Soul", the festival will bring a mentally-stimulating audience together in a pleasant atmosphere. She said, "The concept originated when I was working with a number of local artistes to bring out the best of their music for the first time."

"I brainstormed the Colombo Music Festival to promote Sri Lanka as a tourism festival destination which meant that we project South Asia where lots of style and fusion make it a vibrant destination where people will bound to talk," she said. Haadia hopes to see more people coming from other countries and talking about their experiences to their family and friends at home. "I want to shift from the contemporary Western style that South Asian music borrows to bring about a more Eastern flavour to the festival," she said.

Several key figures in the music industry will be present but it will be Prof. Evan Solot, a committee member on the Grammy awards' board and a musician who has toured with Frank Sinatra and Bette Midler.

"Thanks to the Fullbright Commission Sri Lanka, we are able to have Prof. Lancelot with us to conduct some workshops to help foster musical skills for the youth." She said that concurrent workshops, multiple concerts and special sessions will bring a carnival of music and entertainment for children and adults.

"We are getting a group of talented American youth called The House Jacks to come here, do an exchange of music programs and produce a documentary of their experiences and the responses they got from their music and how they will fuse it with Sri Lankan melodies," she said.

Moreover, the Photography Association of Sri Lanka, featuring some of Sri Lanka's best photographers, will do a coffee-table book of all the snapshots taken at the festival. "We are having a spirit competition and the participants will be invited to the walk of fame which will visually document the achievements the Festival will bring," said Haadia.

The support for various charities, including humanitarian organisations will be the mainstay of the Festival. She said, "There will be kiosks, and showcases where budding artistes can display their talents and also we will focus on the deaf and visually impaired in Colombo and Jaffna, victims of chronic kidney diseases in the North Central region and 37 differently abled children in the Eastern Province."

Haadia said that they also hope the workshops and programs they conduct will be sustainable and those who attend will go back to their institutions and schools and teach and train others.

Her aim is to inspire the next generation who will take the message forward and she firmly believes that music is a common language where we should foster harmony and togetherness. "If we can't take our children to the world, why not bring the world to our children?"