Euphony with a Sri Lankan twist were simply melodious.
BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE.
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It took a lot of convincing to drag us to a musical experience on an afternoon after a late night on Saturday at a dinner dance, but we were glad we did.
Thanks to our mates Lucky and Kal Jayasinghe who coaxed us to accompany them to the event at the Round Theatre in Nunawading, we got to experience a fabulous musical that proved to be exceptional on many fronts.
The ‘Choral evening of iconic melodies’ as it was themed, lived upto lofty expectations from an all Sri Lankan ensemble and their passionate supporters who thronged the venue to a sold out event.
Euphony Australia headed by supercharged conductor and founder Rushan Hewawasam, lived upto it’s name with a pleasing and melodious delivery that kept the packed theatre thrilled at the performance.
Hewawasam has been in the choral music scene for over three decades. A music lover from the tender age of eight, Rushan has a work ethic hard to match being an accountant by profession apart from being a COO of a medical consulting group.
He then finds the time to focus on his greatest passion in musical arrangements and conducting apart from a superb act as vocalist and Grand pianist. He certainly is a hard act to follow.
Although Euphony is broadly aimed at a multi- faceted repertoire of many cultures, this event was centred around some carefully selected all time favourite songs that shaped our cultural upbringing mixed with some Sinhala favourites and cultural dance acts to place an emphasis on the composition of the choir.
Euphony is a group of diverse Sri Lankans from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, but the blend in voice is absolutely amazing.
Adding to the choral brilliance was the De Lanerolle brothers, Rohan and Ishan, from Sri Lanka who have gained worldwide acclaim for their fantastic delivery of Classical, Broadway and pop genres.
They are an exceptional duo who have enjoyed recognition and interest from the best in the business, doing opening acts for the Platters, Olivia Newton John and Smokie to name a few of their numerous musical exploits spanning 15 years.
The cocktail of music on a mild winter afternoon was absorbing and relaxing with the crowd interaction adding a little spark to make it complete.
Stepping out of the box and making a tremendous impact were Thirani Karunatilake and Ridhwan Adjumain who are no strangers to the Melbourne music scene performing for dance band Ebony led by outstanding musician Cameron Colombege.
On reflection, Euphony can confidently rate this production as first class.
There was no shortage of musicians in the Melbourne dance scene who showed up in support and interest about this presentation. They would certainly have left impressed as we were.
Australians love their music, and Euphony are ready to take on the broader community in a culturally diverse country. An all inclusive audience is not far away judging by what my wife Anne and I experienced thanks to the nudge from our buddies Kal and Lakshmi.
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