A popular artiste in Melbourne

by Mahes Perera

Tilaka Rupasinghe's album Hade Veena speaks for itself. In Melbourne with the Sri Lankan community the CD became popular and moved off the shelves in double quick time.

She never expected the response but she was certainly happy that she had touched a chord of appreciation with the Sri Lankan music lovers living in Melbourne. She had made a name for herself in a strange country away from her homeland Sri Lanka.

In a telephone interview, Rupasinghe said she will hold a concert in Melbourne and she will stage the show in Sri Lanka later.

"I was so proud that I was a Sri Lankan when I was chosen to sing Sri Lanka's National Anthem at the opening day of the Sri Lanka/Australia One Day cricket encounter played at Sydney in 2013. It was a big surprise because there were other singers in Melbourne who could have sung it. I was happy it was me and I was proud. Quite naturally I was nervous before I started but once the opening words were sung the rest fell into place.

Question: Is it full time music for you and what exactly are you handling?

Answer: It's more or less full time music for me. I am fortunate to have my music played on radio and to have my video clips aired on the morning show and Thrimana TV both on Channel 31.

I'm also involved in producing and interviewing Sinhala artistes on Thrimana TV to help, support and promote them in Melbourne. The TV shows can be viewed online.

Besides these, I was invited to sing at many ceremonies with our deshabhimana gee and have participated in various events organised by SCATS, the Sinhala Cultural and Community Services Foundation, the Sangeet Sandhya Organisation singing Hindi songs with the Indian community and with the music group Australia founded by Amitha and Priya Singh.

Q: You mentioned earlier that you are involved in many fund raising shows to benefit citizens in Sri Lanka, could you name some?

A: Some of the projects are the Helsirigama social service charity, raising funds for the cancer hospitals in Sri Lanka, school development projects in Sri Lanka and funds for development after the tsunami devastation.

The CD Hade Veena saw leading musicians lending a hand to make the album popular. Rupasinghe sang duets with Ishaq Baig while the lyrics were written by Mahinda Dalugodaaratchi.

Visharada Manoj Pieris was responsible for the new music and the recording and the sound were in the hands of Tharinda Jayatilleke and Priyantha Pushpa Kumara. The album was produced by Nimal Vijitha Rupasinghe.

Throughout her career Rupasinghe has worked with a galaxy of artistes including Daya Silva, Ravi Silva, Indrajith Mirihana, Roshan Fernando, the B-Sharp Band and Cameron Kolabage. She is keeping her fingers crossed that her concert which she will be staging in Melbourne shortly will be a reality in her homeland Sri Lanka.