An Evening in Harmony

Exhilarating performance by the Visakhians:

Amidst the continuing chorus of Global Economic crisis, hardships and conflict situations, in contrast it was a pleasant evening the other day when the Western Music Unit of the Visakha Vidyalaya presented "An Evening in Harmony" with song and dance. For all those who sat through the performance at the Visakha's Jeremias Dias Hall a clear message delivered was that "Singing and Music "is a great leveler that has neither religious or ethnic barriers nor room for conflicts. Visakha owes this rich legacy to late Kalasuri Lylie Godridge, a teacher cum guide par excellence that served as a beacon to the young Visakhians in the formative days of the western music unit and the maestro is still fondly remembered as Uncle Lylie by Visakhians young and old. Taking the mantle from his father it was Willie Godridge who took great pains to mould this choir to a unit of talented performers. For well over 12 months every Wednesday and latterly on Fridays too Willie sweated for hours with the girls in the "Godridge" home a haven for music while his beloved mother Ms. Irma Godridge who graced the occasion as the guest of honour giving all the support.

The evening began with" That's what Friends are for" by the senior choir that gave a smooth take off. Seniors set the tempo that kept the audience glued to their seats through some master pieces such as "What a Wonderful World, And so it goes, Bridge over Troubled waters, Born free, In the still of the night, The Rose, Can you feel the love tonight". The juniors chipped in with "Lion Sleeps to Night, You Gotta Be, and part of your world and to live the world.

To cap it all the combined choirs of Visakha and Royal gave a masterly performance adding more colour to the evening. It was highly talented Nilushka Perera who showed much promise (perhaps reminiscing Kishani Jayasinghe another Visakhian artiste of international fame who performed in Colombo recently) conducted the choir admirably with support from Rochana Cooray. Nilushka and Rochana joined up with Sandani in local melody "Sulang Kirilliye". It was not singing alone and add to the variety were the performances of the Ballerinas and the cha/cha and the Samba Dance while the little kids too joined the concert.

Encouraging to note were the supporting performances from the old Visakhians Geethika, Nilupuli, Samadhi and Shonaka.

All credit for this wonderful performance should go to the teacher-in- charge Vajira Dias Nanayakkara an icon at Visakha (ably assisted by Natalie Gunaratne who handled the juniors) for well over two decades who left no stone unturned and was with the girls throughout the rigorous training sessions.

Her contribution and the inspiring leadership no doubt would be much in demand at Visakha for years to come.

Not to be outdone the performers too should be complemented for their commitment and determination amidst the rigors of a highly competitive environment of today's education system.

One would hope that Visakha will continue to provide this charming aesthetic treasure to calm the minds generating optimism and hope in a troubled world.

Sunil K