Soprano Tharanga Goonetilleke will perform at the friendship concert featuring musicians from Vietnam and Sri Lanka. (Photo: ytimg.com) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - A classical music concert featuring renownedSri Lankan and Vietnamese musicians will take place at the Vietnam NationalAcademy of Music in Hanoi on June 22.
It is the first time that Sri Lankan and Vietnamese classical musicians willplay together on one stage. The concert will showcase the highest levels ofmusical professionalism.
The concert will star pianist Rohan de Silva, soprano Tharanga Goonetilleke andmaestro Lalanath de Silva.
Composer and conductor de Silva was born in 1959. His conducting career hasemphasised the performance of new, experimental and innovative Sri Lankanmusic.
As a composer, de Silva has strived to bring together elements of Western andOriental music.
Soprano Goonetilleke is also an associate of the Trinity College of Musicin London. Goonetilleke’s performances have taken her all over the world,including to Italy, France, England, Scotland, theRepublic of Korea, Uganda, India, SriLanka, Canada and the US.
Pianist de Silva has partnered with violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman at worldwiderecitals with every notable violinist on the concert stage on June 21.
Vietnamese musicians who will participate are tenor Nguyen Tuan Anh, pianist BuiDang Khanh and the Sun Symphony Orchestra (SSO).
The SSO is a newly formed professional orchestra that comprises not onlyVietnamese but also several eminent foreign musicians. Its music director andprincipal conductor is Maestro Olivier Ochanine.
The programme will consist of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1, several ariasand a duet from well-known operas including one by Sri Lankan composerPremasiri Khemadasa, a new overture by Maestro Lalanath de Silva and Mozart’soverture to the Magic Flute.
The Sri Lankan musicians and SSO performance are free to the public.
Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Vietnam HasanthiUrugodawatte Dissanayake said people-to-people contacts ultimately pavethe way for understanding and building up trust, essentialprecursors to achieving policy objectives in the bilateral economicand diplomatic relationship.
“In Vietnam, where people have nurtured a great taste and passion forwestern classical music, what better way to make a true and sincere connectionthan by appealing to the Vietnamese soul through music,” she said.
“Besides, there is no doubt that this concert is a one-of-a-kind, lifetimeopportunity for the classical music lovers of Vietnam.”
Free tickets can be collected at the Sri Lankan embassy.-VNS/VNA
VNA
