Concertaid in aid of charity

Bridget Halpé presents her fourteenth concert in the aptly named Concertaid series in September/October. All the concerts have been in aid of Lankan charities and the present is no exception.

Bridget Halpé

It is in aid of disabled music teachers (who are no longer able to make an income from teaching), and the Jeevanakanda Home for traumatised and abused Girls at Rangala, Kandy.

The program presents the Peradeniya Singers, the Kandy Junior Singers, several young professionals and a guest artiste - the Japanese operatic soloist Haruka Nagakubo who trained at the Verdi Conservatoire in Milan and also studied under Maestro Elena Obratsova and Maestro Renato Palumbo.

She has performed in concerts and operas held in Italy and Japan and has also appeared in concerts with the Veneta Philharmonic Orchestra.

Concertaid XIV will begin with an exquisite gem of polyphony stretch across the Baroque beauty of Bach, and over to more contemporary works. The music of many lands, of many styles and forms will be presented.

There is a contemporary choral work from Australia for the small singers - "Cinderella dressed in Yella".

Two Zulu numbers will be performed by the Peradeniya Singers amongst other items.

The baritone soloist Harin Deekshan will perform Mozart and Rachmaninoff while the opera singer Haruko Nagakubo will perform Alessandro Scarlatti, Giovanni Martini and the dramatic declamation of Giuseppe Verdi's aria of Lady Macbeth.

Franz Schubert's piano duet, Fantasie and Giulio Caccini's Ave Maria arranged for a sextet will also be performed.

Rassa saha Parassa goes down under

A scene from the play

Rohana Dandeniya's Rassa saha Parassa will be staged in Adelaide on September 29, Melbourne on October 7 and Perth on October 13.

The cast includes Jayalath Manoratne, Nissanka Diddeniya, Sriyantha Mendis, Rohana Beddage and Madani Malwattage.

Step up Revolution

Step Up Revolution (also known as Step Up 4: Miami Heat, and previously titled Step Up 4Ever) is an American 3D dance film produced by Step Up 3D Director Jon M. Chuand directed by Scott Speer.

Emily Anderson, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, arrives in Miami with aspirations of becoming a professional contemporary dancer. However, she soon falls in love with Sean, a young man who leads a dance crew in elaborate, cutting-edge flash mobs.

The crew, called the MOB, strives to win a contest on Youtube for most hits for a major sponsorship opportunity, but Emily's father threatens to destroy the MOB's historic neighbourhood and the entire community to build a large hotel, in the process displacing thousands of people. Emily bands together with Sean and the MOB to turn their performance art into protest art or risk losing their homes and jobs due to Emily's father's project. They succeed in making Bill Anderson not break their area, thus saving their crew and the neighbourhood. The cast includes: Kathryn McCormick, Ryan Guzman, Adam Sevani, Misha Gabriel, Peter Gallagher, Stephen "tWitch" Boss, Chadd, Tommy Dewey, Cleopatra Coleman, Megan Boone, Sean Rahill, Seyfo, Mari Koda, Phillip "Pacman", Justin, Celestina Aladekoba, Nolan Padilla, Angeline Floridella Appel, Mia Michaels and Bebo.

Balloth Ekka Be at LionelWendt

A scene from the play

Ravindra Ariyaratne's Balloth Ekka Be will be staged at the Lionel Wendt Theatre today at 3.30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

The cast includes Wijaya Nandasiri, Kumara Thirimadura, Roshan Pilapitiya, Gihan Fernando and Anusha Dissanayaka.

Sinhala Cinema Siththam

Martin Wickremasinghe's Sinhala Cinema Siththam was launched in Colombo recently by Sarasa (Pvt) Limited. The book traces the early history of Sinhala cinema. Some of his film reviews published in newspapers are also included in the book.

Sinhala Cinema Siththam will be a valuable source book for those who wish to study the history of the Sinhala cinema.

Scattered

Scattered is an anthology of poems written by Jayani C. Senanayake. It is a Sooriya publication.

Manjeshvari

Anula de Silva's latest Sinhala novel Manjeshvari was launched in Colombo recently as an author publication.

This is the story of a soldier who falls in love with an Indian girl.

Anula de Silva is the author of many novels such as Unmattakayo, Ahas Maliga, Ira Handa Nethi Lova and Pinmada Gehenu. She has also written many short stories, biographies and translations.

Kiyavanna Asai

V.V. Pathmaseeli's latest children's book Kiyavanna Asai was launched in Colombo recently. The book is suitable for children beginning to read the Sinhala language.

An IBMC publication distributed by Sarasavi Bookshop, Nugegoda.