A Musical Medley presented by Sri Lankan Christian Association to celebrate 25 years of helping the poor and needy!

A Musical Medley presented by Sri Lankan Christian Association to celebrate 25 years of helping the poor and needy!

Report by Pandula Ranatunga & Pictures by Andrew Swaris

Recently a classical music concert was organised at the Kensington United Reformed Church in Kensington,London by the Sri Lanka Christian Association to celebrate 25 years of helping people in need. The programme, organised and compiled by Mona Swaris, was an amalgamation of Western classical music and Asian and African rhythms. In addition to pieces from the giants of Western music such as Bach, Mozart, Strauss, Debussy and Schubert there was also a rhythmic movement of dance repertoires organised by Manuja Almeida. The event was graced by chief guests HE Mr P M Amza Acting Sri Lankan High Commissioner and Mrs. Amza, Dr. Lionel Samarasinghe and Mrs. Dayanthi Samarasinghe and Mayoress of Kensington and Chelsea Cllr Julie Mills. The evening- a collaboration of great talent both young and old- was a great joy to those who attended. From the piano to violin, flute to viola, drums to Organ the music was scintillating and memorable. The event began with the Sri Lankan festival drums by Arun Ashantha accompanied by him Angel Marasinghe, Manara Fernando and Vishni Fernando. Mariah Almeida welcomed the guests with a Kandyan Dance: carefully coordinated movements to a music which paid homage to God Sarasvathi. Jonathan, Jemima and Jerusha Atputharatnam played Piano, Violin and flute superbly bringing Gustav Holst’s Jupiter-from the Planets to life. Soprano Jenny Holmgren accompanied by Josef Janik on piano gave a powerful performance in a series of show- stopping numbers such as “As Long As He Needs Me (from the musical Oliver!) by Lionel Bart, Vodka by Hammerstein 11, “How Could I Ever Know?” by Lucy Simon and “Ain’t Misbehavin” by Fats Waller.

Josef Janik joined on the piano with a series of interludes and duets with Ben Gale as well as with Mona Swaris on piano and Ruijia Hu on violin. Laolu Sanu with Djembe Drum and Takashi Kikuchi on viola performed brilliantly. Among the other artists who contributed to the event were Keira Wickremasinghe on violin, John Escott on piano and on organ. The Blue Danube by Strauss, Rondo Alla Turca from Pianoforte Sonata by Mozart played by Mona Swaris accompanied by Josef Janik set the mood for the rest of the music to flow in harmony from the many classical instruments. Rosalinda Ridout playing “Mei” by Fukushima in flute was beautifully melancholic and, Kamilla Arku’s piano performance of Claire de Lune (Moonlight) and Toccata, by Debussy was simply breathtaking.

Maduka Ferdinand’s gyrating performance of a Bollywood dance from the film Devadas brought versatility and a touch of spice to the occasion. Mariah Almeida, Minoli Fernando and Tharushi Wanigarathna performed a dance routine based on Sri Lankan song Punchi Kaley, giving a superb performance with great agility. Additionally, Ammesha Jurangpathy’s singing “At Last” by Etta James and “I Will Be There” by Michael Jackson brought a mood of innocence to the whole event. The last performance of the event was by John Escott on organ: a solo performance of Toccata Symphony 5 by C M Widor, giving a nice touch to the end. It was overall a carefully chosen repertoire of music, song and dance that was immensely enjoyed by all those who attended. The concert was followed by a reception in the hall. Speaking to Newslanka Charmaine Jayathilake said “SLCA had been helping the poor and needy continuously during the past 25 years irrespective of cast, creed, religion and ethnicity. Our next event will be on the 4th December, which is X’Mas Carol Service where all proceeds from that will go to feed over 50.000 at Christmas island wide. And our very special thank you goes to all our talented artists, many of them professionals in their field. The proceeds from the today’s event will be utilised for our Vavuniya Project- a Day Centre for Children.”