SINGING QUEEN WITH UNPARALEL LINEAGE RUVINIE DUNUWILLE REMINISCED – By Sunil Thenabadu Ruvinie Dunuwille was born to a distinguished-up-country high-class family with unprecedented lineage on Dec 17 1964.Her father’s Loku Amma her grandma Molly Dunuwille was married to Hon, DS Senanayake which is ample testimony to the unparallel lineage of her family. She had studied at Matale BMS College. She has not had any hereditary affiliations to any kind of art but only innate talent.. While in school she had won first place for singing when she was very young. Her passion for music had begun when she was at the tender age of only seven years. She had been initially dreadfully inspired by Indrani Perera’s everlasting hit song ‘Dilhani Duwanee’. She had sung initially sung this particular song in a musical contest adjudicated by a panel consisting of veteran musicians Narada Dissasekera and Rohana Beddage where she was adjudicated as the ...

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Legendary ‘UNSUNG” humble model Lead Guitarist Mahinda Bandara reminisced – by Sunil Thenabadu Legendary ‘UNSUNG” humble model Lead Guitarist Mahinda Bandara reminisced – by Sunil Thenabadu It is a natural phenomenon for any person to be a legend in any field to have acquired hereditary affiliations from family members or ancestors which is a laid down norm. The unblemished music career of humble Mahinda Bandara is no exception. It is obvious that his mother Chandra Bandara has acquired musical instincts as a ‘A’ grade vocalist at the SLBC from genital affiliations from her father DG Kodituwakku a master in ‘Tabla’ also a teacher of repute. Mahinda’s maternal uncle is famous Tabla exponent Premanath Kodituwakku a native of Kegalle as Mahinda. At Mahinda’s ancestral dwelling where he too resided there had been many musical instruments v.i.z. tabla,violin,sitar,guitar, mandolin etc., which were freely available for Mahinda to experiment with. Emulating the elders Mahinda ...

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Des Kelly – R.I.P –  by Roger Thiedeman Dear Neil, I was very sorry to hear this morning of the passing of Des Kelly. I count it a privilege, and a very timely one, to have spent an hour or so with Des at his place of residence only a couple of months ago. Although it was obvious that his physical health and mobility were compromised to varying degrees, he was still mentally as sharp as the proverbial tack, and completely ‘on form’ as far as his memory and wit were concerned. I am attaching a few photos you may care to include in a tribute to Des in eLanka Newsletter. The pics were taken by me in December 1990, during the first visit to Australia by Sri Lankan music superstar, now mentor and ‘guru’, Keerthi Pasquel. He was joined on that tour by Mariazelle Goonetilleke, also making her first trip ...

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Raju Bandara a phenomenal musician to emulate dictates in peak spot in celebrity – by Sunil Thenabadu Photo source:hungama.com Behind all the songs and music that we hear, there are some untold stories. Stories of those musicians who dedicated their lives to music. Stories of each of their career paths are identified by only them, just like their palm prints. In a competitive and saturated industry like music, one needs a lot of luck to thrive. What are the qualities behind the success of famous musicians? .Raju Bandara is one who thrived in this industry for over four decades having commenced music while still a school boy at Kegalu Maha vidyalaya.In the annals of history of musical careers there had been no stable income when one start to embark upon this path.Many commence music as a passion but to transform passion into a career is a path of a struggle. ...

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“Spanish Medley | කපිරිඤ්ඤා ගීත (Live) – Keerthi Pasquel” – by Des Kelly “QUITE DEFINITELY, One of the most talented Vocalists of Sri Lanka, and has been, for decades now. In addition, Keerthi came to Melbourne many years ago, and I had the pleasure of meeting him personally at my home in Dandenong North, where I found him to be one of the most humble guys that anyone would have the pleasure of meeting. I already knew Keerthi via  his great recording of a song called “Bolanda Kathaa”, again, the best recording of that beautiful song, ever presented. Not only is he a great Vocalist, he also played guitar, and could  make an acoustic bass guitar “talk”, that’s how good he was, a Vocalist/Instrumentalist Supreme, this was Keerthi Pasquel. It is with great pleasure that I present this latter concert, featuring my friend, singing both in Sinhalese and Spanish, a ...

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eLanka Newsletter – 4th September 2022 – 1st Edition Sri Lankans in Australia Click here or on the image below to read this week’s elanka Newsletter “ELVIS IN CONCERT” – by Des Kelly Sydney Peterites do it in style and with finesse! By Aubrey Joachim Dream of feeding by Dr harold Gunatillake SUNDAY CHOICE – HAPPY FATHER’S DAY Watch Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan – Asia Cup – Sharjah, September 03 2022 Father & Daughter Success – By Kerrigan La-Brooy SRI LANKA NEWS The Ceylon Society of Australia 25th Anniversary Celebrations by Adam Raffel (Photos thanks to Senanie De Silva, Earlson Forbes and Nihal Dias) GR RETURNS TO SRI LANKA – By JAMILA HUSAIN TREE OF LIFE (JESUS) – The Bride for Christ; “Shulamite”, finest Fruit of the tree of Life shall be the Faithful Church! – by Lakshman Navaratne HAPPY FATHER’S DAY – Dedicated to all Dads, both dead & ...

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“Bolanda Katha Kiyala – Keerthi Pasquel – by Des Kelly   The guy singing the song, which was composed by a singing group named the Los Flamencos, before they added the adjective ‘Super’ to their name (please someone, correct me, if I am wrong), is, like ‘Dilhani’, written by the late, great, Clarence Wijewardena, another beautiful Sinhala Song, “covered” equally well, by Keerthi Pasquel, whom I did meet many years ago,when he was doing a concert in Melbourne.  A nicer, more humble bloke, would be impossible to find. He was also an experienced bass-guitarist, who went on to teach the youngsters in Sri Lanka later on, to play  both bass and rhythm/lead guitars, to the best of his ability. I have not had the privilege of meeting many of their famous Entertainers, but was lucky to meet just a few, and Keerthi certainly was one of them. ...

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Thomian, Trinitian to light up Source:Island Peterite scene…in London I’m a Peterite and I know for sure that we, Peterites, do have a whole lot of talented entertainers. And, believe it or not, there is a Peterite entertaining guests at the Galadari Hotel right now! Yes, St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya, is celebrating its centenary, this year, and, obviously, there will be lots of special events, organised by the OBU (Old Boys) domiciled abroad, to mark this milestone. The London event is one of them and the Peterites OBU UK is calling it ‘La Bamba Nite 2022.’ It will be held at the Hilton T5 London, on September 17th. The Thomian and Trinitian, who will be in London, to light up the Peterite scene, are Sohan Weerasinghe and Clifford Richards. (No doubt…as the saying goes, variety is the spice of life!) They are probably the best when it comes to entertaining, ...

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PIYUMI PATHIRAJA A PHENOMINAL QUALIFIED MUSICIAN POSSESSING ABUNDANT OF VOCAL TALENT  AT THE APEX OF FAME – by Sunil Thenabadu All singers should possess a singing voice with intermittent breathing, the love for music, commitment. patience, determination, and discipline. All these traits are possessed by Piyumi already an acclaimed singer.  Piyumi Pathiraja a native of Makola educated at Mahamaya Girls College Kadawatha having excelled as a promising vocalist in school concerts and competitions. Father a retired officer at People’s Bank while mother a housewife could sing a bit.But Piyumi’s singing talent is  owing to innate talent not with any  hereditary affiliations, which is her passion had affirmed her life revolves around as a self-employed singer, performer and a recording artiste having been a permanent member of the ’youth extreme’ and ‘special music’  groups at the National youth Services Centre in Maharagama.Piyumi had travelled to overseas countries with these groups to countries ...

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