The Cantando Cello Ensemble, which has been drawing music lovers to its performances over the last four years, will present its 5th annual concert on July 2. Directed by Dushy Perera, the ensemble now consists of 12 cellists, and has in recent years been gaining recognition as one of the foremost string ensembles in the country.
This year, Cantando is performing a stylistically varied and demanding programme, with music ranging from Baroque masterpieces, such as J.S. Bach's Chaconne in D minor (from the violin Partita, arranged for cello ensemble) to the quintessentially romantic Largo from Dvorak's New World Symphony, to film music, with Mancini's classic theme from "The Pink Panther". One of the highlights of the evening will be the Cesar Franck Sonata for Cello & Piano performed by Dushy Perera and guest artiste Rohan De Silva.
The cello ensemble has a unique sound and timbre all its own. Though the instrument is known for its warmth of sound and mellow "speaking" voice, it’s capable of a much wider range of styles, sounds and musical textures - the cello being one of those rare instruments that has such an extensive range that it is quite comfortable in bass, tenor and treble ranges.
Since its inception in 2005, the Cantando Cello Ensemble has provided a platform for cellists in Sri Lanka to perform both solo and ensemble repertoire ranging from Baroque to Jazz and contemporary music. While maintaining high performance standards, Cantando is also a training-ground for young cellists, and therefore the group consists of cellists of varying ages and stages of development. Cantando seeks not only to train cellists in the art of ensemble playing, but also to bring to Sri Lankan audiences some of the unique works written especially for cello ensemble.
The Cantando Cello Ensemble perform at the Lionel Wendt at 7.30 p.m on July 2. Tickets and box plan are available at the Lionel Wendt. |
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