Ve Prashansa - a gospel music concert

by Mahes Perera

Music has for centuries transcended cultural barriers and has succeeded in uniting people on the common ground of music and spirituality. A firm believer in this maxim is the group Daham Pahana who is confident of bringing 5,000 people to their gospel concert Ve Prashansa at the Viharamahadevi Open Air Theatre on September 1 from 5-9 p.m.

The spiritual movement funded in the early 90s by Brother Anton Charles Thomas rests on the belief that every religion in the world has an underlying vein of Dharma and has in the past two decades succeeded in communicating with many faiths at once. The music that Daham Pahana performs are collaborations by the late Stanley Peiris, Suresh Maliyadde, Rookantha Goonatilleke, Rohana Weerasinghe, Ranga Dasanayake, Leslie Thomas and the group’s originals.

In fact at the concert on September 1, Suresh Maliyadde’s orchestra will be backing the performing vocalists, Brother Charles Thomas, Leslie Thomas, Marisha Kirialdeniyage, Chris Lindsay, Nayomi Thomas and the Choristers of Daham Pahana.

A CD titled Kandulin Pudannam containing six teen songs has been released and will be available at the concert. Some of the songs are Andura Medin, Mevage Ananthare, Pahana Nuyuna Wega and Mal Pethake Randi.