Await the return of the Galle Music Festival
The Jaffna and Galle Music Festivals which have taken place in alternative years have always managed to bridge different cultures through music. Passion, harmony and creativity have come together on one stage to speak to everyone irrespective of language or religion. Now they’re back for the fourth year with more on the programme.
Solid support: Leading musicians at the press conference last week. Pic by Indika Handuwela
The Galle Music Festival 2014 will be held this year at the Moon Bastian in Galle Fort on March 15. The main event will take place from 4 p.m. till 11p.m. Five international performance groups as well as two classical groups, four folk performers, four contemporary groups as well as three additional performers will take the stage during the evening. The event is organised by the Sevalanka Foundation along with the Royal Norwegian Embassy with the artistic direction of the Aru Sri Art Theatre.
Among the international groups that are participating are Ten Sing from Norway which consists of around 20 voices from the ages of 19 to 21 and Shironamhin from Bangladesh, currently the most popular band there for their flair in fusing many different types of musical instruments. Fans can also look forward to Groupo Roda Viva (Wheel of life) from Brazil whose main target is to rescue Samba and Choro, two of the most popular and traditional music forms in Brazil.
Then there’s Donn Bhat and his band Passenger Revelator from India, well known for their unique mixture of genres. Donn is a popular songwriter, producer and guitar player. A group from Palestine called Sabreen Association for Artistic Development will also be performing in Galle next month.
The two classical performers are the Oriental Music Orchestra, Sri Lanka’s first multi ethnic oriental music orchestra, and the Perspective of Freedom.
Offering audiences a flavour of folk music are Tony Hassan and orchestra who are accompanied by the dancing group of the well known Limbo dancing guru Ruffin Saldeen, the Sokari Dancers dedicated to Goddess Pathini, Isai Nadakam which is a Hindu cultural drama and the Nondi Nadakam which is a an ancient form of theatre among the Tamils.
The four contemporary performers are the Marians, the popular music band headed by singer Nalin Perera, Naadro the local masters of percussion led by Ruwan Weerasekara, naTANDA a modern dance company started by Kapila Palihawadana in 2002 and Thriloka, a well known local fusion band.
The Ranwala Brigade founded by the traditional Lankan musical genius late Lionel Ranwala and Sangamam, a local venture helping local violinists will be onstage as well.
On March 14, there will also be a Children’s Musical Festival “Music for all” at the Martin Wickramasinghe museum in Koggala which aims to encourage children to understand the language of music as well as enjoy it. The children will experience dance and music along with lyric writing, video production, vocal training, dubbing as well as art workshops.
The Colombo concert, an annual part of the music festival which enables the visiting foreign performers as well as some local performers to perform for Colombo audiences, will be an open event this year. It will be held at the Galle Face Green on March 17 from 5.30 p.m till 10.30 p.m.
In 2011 the Jaffna Music Festival attracted more than 13,000 people who travelled north for the first time after the conflict. In 2013 around 25,000 people came together in unity and harmony putting aside all racial, cultural or political differences to enjoy this musical fest.
The Galle Music Festival that took place in 2012, attracted more than 23,000 people , among them, more than 3,000 youth and school children from around the island.