The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) has spent Rs 75 million to give a complete facelift to the City for the awards ceremony which is to be held at the Sugathadasa Stadium.

IIFA 2010 in Colombo is expected to be attended by more than 600 Indian film industry guests and watched by over 600 million TV viewers in 110 nations. The Indian celebrities expected in the country include Shah Rukh Khan and several other leading stars.The city’s hotels are well prepared to host the celebrity guests attending the award ceremony and the other events associated with it that includes a business forum, a fashion show, and a celebrity cricket match between Bollywood stars and Sri Lankan cricketers.

According to the Colombo City Tourist Hotels Association (CCTHA) President, M. Shanthikumar, hotels in the city would have 650 rooms-nights per day available, on a bed and breakfast basis and 148 suites on a full-board basis, which would amount to a total of 2,600 room-nights, for the duration of the event.

The city officials and the Sri Lankan government expect the event to be a major boost to the country’s tourism industry by giving a huge exposure worldwide showcasing Sri Lanka as an attractive tourist destination.

ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Department of Archeology has unearthed a blue sapphire and ancient artifacts in excavations at Jethawana Sthupa in ancient capital of Anuradhapura.

A waterway build before the construction of the dagaba, a work shop, and raw material were also explored in the excavations carried out near the almsgiving hall in Jethawanarama temple, Archeological Department sources say.

Beads of various shapes, locally made glass and clay beads, raw materials for production of beads, eight Roman coins, animal bones, graphite, transparent polished quartz, raw iron, a furnace copper was melted and parts of furnaces are also among archeological findings.The excavations were commenced in February this year and the blue sapphire was recovered on May 17. It is 42 milligrams in weight, sources said.

Archeologists guess the ruins belong to first and second centuries AD. They are to be subjected to carbon dating, said the Chief Research Officer of the Jethawana Project Thusitha Mendis.

The excavations are carried out under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Piyathissa Senanayake, the Director of Archeology of Jethawana Project.

Cellist Rohan de Saram, born in Britain to Sri Lankan parents, may be best known for his tenure as a member of the Arditti Quartet between 1979 and 2005.  But before he became part of that elite group specializing in modern music, de Saram, 71, knew his way around the standard classical repertory.  He returned to his musical roots Saturday at the Colburn School’s Zipper Hall in a nearly all-Baroque concert with Sri Lanka-born harpsichordist Preethi de Silva.

In this latest offering by the early music ensemble Con Gioia, founded by de Silva in 1982 (she is also its music director), works by J.S. Bach, Pietro Locatelli, and Luigi Boccherini felt comfortable next to the U.S. premiere of Delhi-born composer Param Vir’s “…beyond the reach of the world…,” a riveting 2009 solo cello piece, and three modernist works for solo harpsichord written by de Silva.

Like his teacher Pablo Casals, de Saram’s powerful expressiveness employs little vibrato.  His grainy sound suited Bach’s Sonata in D major, with de Silva’s delicate accompaniment providing essential support for de Saram’s cello.

Locatelli’s Caprice in D major for solo violin, transcribed by de Saram, displayed the cellist’s fierce concentration and virtuoso technique.  Like the Bach, it was another case of old music sounding new.  At one point in de Silva’s three Pieces for Harpsichord Solo, a blending of South Asian, Baroque, and 20th-century influences, she drummed on each side of the fragile-sounding instrument.

But the night belonged to de Saram, who returned for a compelling account of Bach’s Suite No. 3 for solo cello.  His tone was a bit rough in the Prelude, but in a musician of such restrained eloquence it served to intensify the character of his sound.  As a conductor, Bach was described by a contemporary as being “full of rhythm in every part of his body.”  For de Saram, it was his mouth, so constantly in motion that it once prompted a critic to write that it was “as if he were tasting the notes as he produced them.”

After intermission, de Saram and de Silva returned with passionate readings of Boccherini’s Sonata in A major and Bach’s Sonata in G minor.  In between came Param Vir’s “… beyond the reach of the world …”  This moving 16-minute solo, given a transcendent performance by de Saram, was inspired by 22-year-old Danish Resistance fighter Kim Malthe-Bruun, who was tortured and executed by the Nazis in 1945.  Percussive effects suggested a clock ticking down, while ghostly figurations deepened this memorial to one person’s heroic and horrendous ordeal.  Then, de Saram’s extraordinary dynamic control turned his cello into a whispering soul until only silence remained.

Original article published on May 16, 2010 in the Los Angeles Times.

Click here to access the original article.

Kuwait will hold a ‘Sri Lanka Culture Week,’ jointly hosted by the Embassy of Sri Lanka and Kuwait’s National Council for Culture, Arts, & Letters from today up to May 2nd.  The event, the first ever promotion of its kind, is co-sponsored by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) and the Sri Lankan Airlines (SLA), with the support of a host of well-wishers.

A 28-member cultural troupe from Chandana Wickramasinghe and the Dancers Guild will perform “Sri Lak Rangana” – a cultural extravaganza throughout the week featuring Sri Lanka’s well-known historical and contemporary dance and fusion acts, while an orchestra entertains the guests with classical music.

Kuwait’s Sri Lankan Ambassador, Sarath Dissanayake, played a key role in organizing this event.

A Batik Designer/Artist, Sonali Dharmawardene, a member of the Sri Lankan Troupe is scheduled to make special presentations to audiences of high profile ladies in Kuwait on the theme “Batik, Lifestyles, & Role of Sri Lankan Women.”

Parallel to the main event, a handicraft exhibition will also be held throughout the week, which will feature Sri Lanka’s handicraft, cottage industries, handlooms, masks, bronze items, gems & jewellery, and other ornaments.

It is also significant that an “MoU on Tourism Cooperation” will be signed with Kuwait, which is the second such instrument to be signed by Sri Lanka with a Gulf country after Bahrain.

The celebrations will facilitate further promotion of Sri Lanka – Kuwait relations and will help create awareness of Sri Lanka’s rich culture, heritage, dance, music, and much more among the Kuwaitis and the larger expatriate community.

Commenting on the significance of this event, veteran dance choreographer Chandana Wickramasinghe said this was the first time that Kuwait was going to witness the wide variety of Sri Lanka’s dancing prowess.

“There are five concerts during the week.  We are performing with 28 members of our group and that is going to be a novel experimental move.  I have plans to take this event to other parts of the world too,” said Chandana.

Originally published on April 26, 2010 in the Daily Mirror News.

Photo courtesy of the Daily Mirror News.

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Director of the Sinhala film, Bambara Walalla (The Hornet Circle), Athula Liyanage was honored with the Special Jury Award.  The film was selected for this special award out of 2,400 films in the festival.

In addition, Camera Director of the film, Thishula Deepa Thambawita, was honored with Best Award for Camera.

This is the first time Sri Lankan film artists won awards at the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival.

Originally published on April 18, 2010 by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.

Click here to access the original article.

Taprobane, the new recreational facility and community center was the brainchild of Dr. Walter Jayasinghe, founder of Sri Lanka Foundation.  Upon presenting his idea for a venue at which all Sri Lankans could congregate and host social functions, many of the Sri Lankan community leaders in Southern California rallied behind him in support of such an initiative.  Aside from the evident social aspect that it supports among the expatriate population, the community center is thought to be able to provide a setting in which Sri Lankans of all ages and interests could come together to experience Sri Lankan culture, food, sports and recreation, and events.

After a year’s worth of meetings, budget planning, and site visitations, the board members of Taprobane were ready to welcome the Sri Lankan community to a place to call their own.  Throughout the entire day, Taprobane’s Open House event was teeming with Sri Lankans from across Southern California who came to learn a little more about what the new community center had to offer.

The event was kick-started by a free authentic Sri Lankan breakfast with kiribath and a host of other sides to compliment the morning meal.  Emcees Al Kamalee Jabbar and Sajee Perera hosted the morning performances and presentations, which included a traditional Sri Lankan dance by Palitha Kasthuriarachchi’s dance troupe, performances by the Sri Lankan American band, Heat, and informational presentations and speeches given by Dr. Walter Jayasinghe, Raja Edirisuriya, Jayam Rutnam, Nandakumaran Navaratnam, Asela Ratnayake, Ananda Markalanda, and others.

The presentations given regarding Taprobane covered every aspect of the community center’s proposed activities, funds, and day-to-day operational procedures, allowing for transparency of the center’s functions so that registered members are made aware of what purposes and activities their annual membership supports.

Attendees of the event were able to enjoy authentic Sri Lankan foods for lunch, including kottu roti, biriyanis, hoppers, string hoppers, roast pan, curries, and a beverages stall that served the oft-enjoyed faluda among many other drinks.

Taprobane is set to become the place for social and alumni organizations in the Sri Lankan community to host their annual events, for Sri Lankan youth to congregate and socialize, and for sporting teams to get together, practice, and stage their games.  Without a doubt, Taprobane will prove to be a permanent gathering place for Sri Lankans to get together with new and old friends.

Membership in Taprobane promises access to subsidized rice and curry meals, access to all amenities of the facility, and participation in all center events.  Members are also provided with the opportunity to rent the center’s premises at an affordable rate for business meetings, luncheons, parties, weddings, and many other events.

For more information about becoming a Taprobane member, contact Keshini Wijegoonaratna at keshini@us.tzuchi.org

Visit the Sri Lanka Foundation Gallery to see pictures from the event.  Photography by Andy Samarsena.

World Famous Sri Lankan-British Cellist

Rohan de Saram

and

Internationally Acclaimed Sri Lankan-American Harpsichordist

Preethi de Silva

to Perform Together in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 15, 2010

On May 15, 2010, at the prestigious Herbert Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles, Con Gioia Early Music Ensemble will feature the world famous cellist, Rohan de Saram, and internationally acclaimed harpsichordist, Preethi de Silva, in a program of Western and Asian-influenced music by J. S. Bach, Boccherini, de Silva, and Indian composer Param Vir.  These two concert artists, who have known each other for several decades, will collaborate in a duo-recital for the very first time.

Based in London, Rohan de Saram was, for over twenty years, the cellist of the Arditti Quartet, renowned as Europe’s leading champions of contemporary music for string quartet.  In 2005, Mr. de Saram resumed his solo career in order, once more, to perform repertoire from the baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary periods.

Although he has been more recently known as an outstanding performer of contemporary music, it was as a classical artist that Rohan de Saram made his name as a teenager, and in his twenties and thirties.  Having studied cello from the age of 11 with Gaspar Cassado in Italy in Siena and Florence, he was awarded, at the age of 17, the coveted Suggia Award to study in the UK with Sir John Barbirolli, and in Puerto Rico with Pablo Casals – the most renowned cellist of the twentieth century.  In 1957, Rohan was invited to give his Carnegie Hall debut in 1960 with the New York Philharmonic, playing Khatchaturian’s Cello Concerto.

Rohan has performed with the major orchestras of Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, and the former Soviet Union, with conductors such as John Barbirolli, Adrian Boult, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, and William Steinberg, as well as with composers conducting their own works such as Luciano Berio.

In December 2004 Rohan was awarded an honorary D. Litt., from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.  A year later, in December 2005, he received the Deshamaniya, a national honor of Sri Lanka, given by the President of Sri Lanka.

Preethi de Silva, founder and director of the Southern California based Con Gioia Early Music Ensemble, has concertized extensively as soloist and chamber musician performing on historical keyboard instruments – the harpsichord and fortepiano (18^th century ancestor of the piano) – in the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka.

Preethi studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London, the Hochschule für Musik (University of the Arts), Berlin, and at Yale University, where she earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree.  She is the winner of numerous awards and fellowships, including the prestigious Erwin Bodky Award for early music performance.  Her recordings of keyboard works by J.S. and C. P. E. Bach, J. G. Müthel, and Mozart on historical keyboard instruments have received extraordinary international critical acclaim.

Ms. de Silva’s publications include music for harpsichord and oboe, and a book, Fortepiano Writings of Streicher, Dieudonné, and the Schiedmayers, which was published recently by The Edwin Mellen Press, and which received the Adèle Mellen Prize for distinguished scholarship.  She is the lead harpsichordist in Con Gioia’s recording of J.S. Bach’s concertos for harpsichords.  In 2006, she received an Exceptional Achievement award from the Sri Lanka Foundation.

Preethi de Silva is professor of music emerita of Scripps College, in Claremont, California, and adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University.  She will be performing on her custom-built harpsichord, which is modeled after eighteenth-century German instruments – the only one in the United States.

By bringing Rohan de Saram to Southern California, Con Gioia will continue its tradition of presenting performers of international repute.

Find Rohan de Saram and Preethi de Silva performing at the Colburn School of Music.

May 15, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.

Herbert Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School of Music

200 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012. (Across from the Walt Disney Concert Hall)

Admission: VIP reserved – $50; General Admission – $30; Seniors 65+ – $25; Students – $15

Tickets available through www.congioia.org and Sri Lanka Foundation.

The international Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards will be held this year at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo from July 2 to July 4.

The country’s Minister for Tourism, Achala Jagoda, revealed that several countries had competed to host the event, but Sri Lanka finally got the nod.  Mr. Jagoda described it as an international achievement, and added that several events such as an Indian business meeting, would be held on the event’s sidelines.

The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards are presented annually by the International Indian Film Academy to honor both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in Bollywood.  Instituted in 2000, the ceremony is held in different countries around the world every year.

The first ceremony was held in London at The Millennium Dome.  From then on, the awards were held at locations around the world signifying the international purpose of Hindi cinema.  It has been held in South Africa (twice), Malaysia, Singapore, The Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, England, Thailand, and Macau.

While Sri Lanka will host the event in 2010, the 2011 event is expected to be held in Toronto.

Originally published on March 26, 2010 on The Hindu.

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Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan inaugurates the IIFA Voting Weekend 2010, in Mumbai - Courtesy of The Hindu

The first guidebook for the North and East of Sri Lanka has recently been released.

BBC Lonely Planet photojournalist, Juliet Coombe, and Daisy Perry, co-writer of the guidebook, Around The Fort In 80 Lives, take you on a journey less travelled in their recently released book.

Travel begins from the Nalanda Gedige in the Cultural Triangle traveling up north and to the east, going to places which have just opened their doors to welcome visitors from the south and overseas.

Not merely a guidebook for the uninitiated, Around The Fort In 80 Lives speaks of the writers’ experiences and what to expect on a journey to the north and east of Sri Lanka.

“It’s about a beach hut miles from anywhere, where just off shore, up to a thousand spinner dolphins fly through the air or in places like Batticaloa how fish will sing to you through the night.”

The book’s double-page guide sections will reveal not only how to get to these secret spots, but also help you to find quirky places to eat and incredible sites to visit, from hot healing springs to the islands off Jaffna.”

Review By Ashok Ferrey

(Ashok Ferrey is the author of two books of short stories, The Good Little Ceylonese Girl and Colpetty People.  Both were shortlisted for the Gratiaen Prize, Sri Lanka’s premier literary award, set up by Michael Ondaatje from his Booker Prize winnings for The English Patient).

A micro-climate is one where exotic species of flora and fauna survive, and to me this is exactly what Sri Lanka’s Galle Fort is: a micro-climate of rare and special people.  According to legend, Galle was the Biblical city of Tarshish.  King Solomon was its first tourist and they haven’t stopped coming since: from Morocco and Yemen, from Holland and Portugal; and today, from just about everywhere else.  It is popular these days to argue that a country should be reserved for its indigenous people.  As a Sri Lankan, I couldn’t disagree more.  This is an island, and if you care to go back far enough, we all came from somewhere else, the many shards of precious stone that go to make up this splendid jewel.

Juliet Coombe and Daisy Perry have deconstructed Galle Fort in the most charming manner.  Here you will find the old man who annoyed his wife by keeping goats in the kitchen and raising the kids in the sink (the goat’s, that is, not the old man’s).  Noor, the diver who harnesses giant octopus, though alas we only have Noor’s word for it.  The betel seller with a face that has more tributaries etched on it than the Amazon.  And the snake charmer who says, “If you see a snake, don’t get hysterical. Just give me a call and I’ll come and relocate it” (Where to? Colombo?).

But the most curious creature here is Juliet herself, who arrived as a journalist to cover the tsunami, was wooed by her now husband pursuing her in tuk-tuks with bunches of wild flowers and rare jewels, and who, on her wedding day, threw her bouquet out to sea praying it wouldn’t return, because that would mean bad luck.  (It didn’t.)

You will pick this book up for the positive cornucopia of information it contains. But you would want to keep it for its 300 pages of photographs, which bewitch and beguile.  But if you visit Galle, be warned: like Juliet you may never want to leave.

Click here to find out more information about the book and where it may be purchased.

Originally published by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.

She is a new find to Sinhala cinema – pretty and charming, with a pleasant smile on her lips always.  Some think she is from India because she has an Indian look, but Sheshadrie is very much a Sri Lankan.  She is the daughter of the famous Sinhala director, Dinesh Priyasad.

Though she is from a family related with the cinema industry, she has taken her time to enter the field.  Sheshadrie has one elder sister and one younger sister.  While both her sisters set their foot into the cinema industry and are through with a number of creations, Sheshadrie took her own time to make an entry into the industry.

Sheshadrie makes her film debut with “Yawwanaye Bambary Api” by Udayakantha Warnalasuriya, a film which has just finished shooting.

Her younger sister, Shanudrie, began to perform very early when she was just three and half years old.  She continues performing, though she is still studying at grade 08.  “My elder sister Dinakshi has performed in several teledramas.  Though I was not engaged in acting, I have presented a children’s program in a private television channel.  I think that was my beginning,” Sheshadrie says.

“My father is a fan of famous singer H. R. Jothipala.  He is always listening to his songs.  If we had a general discussion in the family, most of the times it was about a film, song, music, or something related to art,” she remembers of her childhood.  That graduated her into the creative works.

She, however, began as an announcer in her childhood, which she still continues.  At present, she engages herself in announcing together with her elder sister Dinakshi with a satellite TV channel.  She has appeared in almost 10 commercials.

All three sisters want to stand on their own legs.  In the creative field, they are in, there is no place for recommendations.  You have to prove yourself.  She says “We get chances to act in commercials, teledramas or films, not because of our father who is a cinema director.  For all the creations for which we were selected and preformed, we had to prove our talents to an interview board.  There were some occasions we did not mention our father’s name at the interviews.”

“I had a dream of entering into the cinema through a film of my father.  Though I missed that opportunity, I am happy I got a chance to perform in a film by an experienced and veteran director like Udayakantha Warnasuriya.”

She is also happy that she got the chance in that film to act with famous and talented actors and actresses like Rohan Ranawana, Pubudu Chathuranga, Sangeetha Weerarathne, and several others.  “There are six dancing scenes in my first film and I am eagerly waiting to see the film out,” she says.

The Holy Family Convent in Bambalapitiya is her fist school where she studied her Kandyan dancing lessons.  After finishing her O/Levels there, she went to a private education centre to do her London A/Levels.  She is still studying there for her London A/Levels.  Sheshadrie, who plans to go for higher studies says, “I want to be in the field.  But I will select only a few good cinema creations.  I don’t have an idea of joining for teledramas.”

She also said that popularity is only for a very limited time period, and therefore there is no need to run for it.  The most important thing is whether we have contributed to the industry and creations with an enough justice for those.  On the other hand, popularity comes mainly because of the audience who love us and secondly because of encouragement from the veterans in the field.

“That is the reality and I do not think that anyone would say that is wrong,” she adds.

“I am very much keen on selecting my dresses.  I like fashions.  But I know what to wear and how to wear according to the situations.  Anyway, frock is my favorite dress” she says.

She also says that her mother always accompanies them wherever they go.  It is sort of an encouragement for them.  “Though father is busy in his field, mother was coming with us for all the shootings and other functions wherever those are taking place,” she proudly says.

Originally published on March 9, 2010 on Asian Tribune.

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