Sunil, Sanka, and Nuwandika are the three musical colors of the show. The venue and other details are shown in the three flyers. The Sri Lankan Association of Manitoba (SLAM) presents Trivarna on Sept. 15, 2024, evening.
Sunil Edirisinghe, a former coworker of mine at the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka in the early 1980s, began his journey as a part-time singer. Over time, Sunil became a leading singer in Sri Lanka. In 2018, when he visited Winnipeg, Sunil and Victor Ratnayake (Victor Aiya) stayed at our home. During that period, I came to appreciate Sunil's high spiritual standards.
Sanka, Sunil’s son, is an excellent singer like his father and will be joining our show from London, where he and his family currently reside. Sankani, Sunil’s daughter, is a student at Vishaka Girls School in Colombo and a student of my wife, Chandani. Sankani is also a talented singer.
Nuwandhika Senarathne is a Sri Lankan singer and television personality known for her singing talents in Soprano Opera and Ghazals. She gained fame as the first runner-up of the reality TV show Derana Dream Star in Sri Lanka.
A few years ago, the Sri Lankan Seniors of Manitoba decided to introduce a Theme Song for Seniors. I thought of Sunil to voice the song. Indra, a member of SLSM, served as the lyric writer. After several months of professional dialogue, Sunil finally voiced the lyrics written by Indra. Music was provided by Darshana Wickramatunga. According to Sunil, the Seniors Song will be launched as the first song just after halftime.
Funds will be raised for: (1) Siloam Mission in Winnipeg (2) Dance School of SLAM (3) Autism Centre: Lady Ridgeway Hospital, Largest Children's Hospital, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan Seniors: Sung Viridu
Sri Lankan Seniors Manitoba got an invitation from Manitoba Buddhist Vihara (Manitoba Buddhist and Cultural Association-MBVCA) to explain the past birth stories of the Buddha (Jathaka Stories) and illustrate on the Pandol to commemorate Poson Full Moon Day from June 22nd and continue till one week.
Traditionally, the Pandol Jathaka story is explained in the form of a Sri Lankan folk song named Viridu. Indra wrote Viridu lyrics with 30 poems to explain Digathi Kosala Jathakaya.
As well as explaining in Viridu format, the organizing committee planned to describe picture-frame by picture-frame in Sinhala and English.
The Education Room of the Access Centre was booked on June 9, 2024, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm to conduct practice sessions of Viridu with a final two-hours kept for recording. Viridu was sung by six seniors. The technical support for recording was obtained from Buddhika and Tharanga. Erandi joined with Seniors to blend her female-voice. Wayantha played violin. Romesh represented MBVCA.
Pembina Active Living
Susan Fletcher, Executive Director, OF Pembina Active Living invited us to join them for the PAL first fundraising breakfast on June 11, 2024, at Smitty's Restaurant on Pembina from 8.30 am to 10.30 am.
I went with my wife, Chandani, for the event. Both of us met our good old friends. I managed to canvass Sri Lankan Association of Manitoba fundraising "singing concert" scheduled to be held on Sept. 15, 2024. Among the guests were Susan and Obby Khan (MLA) Fort Whyte.
