Reviving solo concerts of veteran singers

At a time when veteran vocalist T.M. Jayaratne did not have a solo concert for many years, an ardent fan, Dilanie Wijayapura and husband Sathyendra Wijayapura inspired TM to make a comeback with a full house audience at the Museaeus College auditorium.

The duo was not interested in financial benefit and only keen in getting TM back on stage for a live solo concert. Dilanie and Sathyendra initiated artiste Visharada T.M. Jayaratne's first solo concert after a lapse of many years and were the main sponsors for - 'Sonduru Atheethaya' in May 2013. Bringing his music for T.M. Jayaratne's music fans.

Recalling the effort in making 'Sonduru Atheethaya' a success, at the beginning veteran singer T.M. Jayaratne had said that Dilanie made his dream come true and such a concert was long- awaited, after a lapse of more than four decades. He said although initially he refused to have a solo show acceding to Dilanie's and Sathyendra's request he finally relented and held the first 'Sonduru Atheethaya' Concert. TM and his wife said that Dilanie and her family became close to their family from then on.

Dilanie and Sathyendra were making arrangements with the second concert, this time around reviving the solo concert of veteran vocalist Amarasiri Peiris. But Dilanie could not fulfill that dream as she met with an untimely death, just a few days before the event.

Nevertheless, her husband Satyendra and their nephew Jithendra Wijayapura insisted that they should go ahead with the Amarasiri Pieris concert as a mark of respect for Dilanie and her keenness to revive popular solo concerts of veteran singers.

"Though we knew her for a short time, Dilanie was a kind- hearted and friendly person.

She always said that many songs that I have sung should beat in the hearts of fans and that is why she wanted to hold this concert" said Visharada Amarasiri Peiris recalling his first meeting with the couple prior to organising the show.

He said that Dilanie was trying to get official rights for certain songs that were treasured by fans which Peiris has not sung for the past few years at public shows, since these songs had legal implications.

"Since she was not well during the last few weeks prior to the concert, we were unable to bring these songs on stage.

However upon Sathyendra's request we decided to hold the concert just after the day of her burial, since it was one of her last wishes to see the 'Hanthanata Payana Sanda' concert being a success."