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| Sunday, 10 March 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Remember Petronella - the athlete, she is a now a singing star! by A. C. DE SILVA Athletics and music seem to be wide distance apart, but a Sri Lankan - Petronella Fernando is one girl who has excelled in both fields and has now reached a new high in the music scene and is putting out her first CD comprising 12 songs. Petronella Fernando is a old girl of Good Shepherd Convent, Kotahena and she really blossomed out as an athlete and represented Sri Lanka in athletics, basketball and netball in the 70s and 80s. It was in the discus throw event in track and field that she rally excelled and was a Sri Lanka and Junior National Champion and a gold medallist in the event at the All-India and Indo-Sri Lanka meets in India. While in Sri Lanka she held the record in the Nationalised Services meet and also held the Mercantile record too. Besides athletics, Petronella had an inner feeling for music too. Having being a student of the late Lylie Godridge, she sang with church choirs and after migrating to the United States in 1989, she was a member of the United Nations International Choir. Though many miles away, she didn't lose touch with the lilting Sri Lanka music and gradually built up her interest in Sinhala songs as a hobby, but the hobby has now turned out to be somewhat a lucrative exercise with the first CD. The greenlight for Petronella to go ahead in the music scene was given by Rev. Father Don Cicil Kumara (who has a doctorate in music) who introduced her to Rohana Weerasinghe who created the music for the first three originals. Petronella relishes singing patriotic, love, peace and classical songs, the first three originals being 'Sili-Sili' handa nangwa (a love song), Vishvaye (Deshabimana song) and Mal Kekulu (Appreciation to parents). The CD to be launched is composed of 12 songs is directed by Rohana Weerasinghe, Upali Kannangara, Stanley Peiris and Rev. Fr. Don Cicil Kumara. Right now, Petronella Fernando is in Sri Lanka finalising arrangements for the launch of the CD. She is working at the United Nations in New York as the Personal Assistant to the Under Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs. |
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