SOSL Concert
The Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka will present a unique concert at the Lionel Wendt Theatre on March 23rd, 2024. The concert will feature Japanese Conductor, Maestra Keiko Kobayashi, Sri Lanka’s foremost Cellist Dushyanthi Perera and the World Premier of Composer Lalanath de Silva’s Cello Concerto.
Keiko Kobayashi is a well-known figure in Sri Lankan classical music circles, having conducted the SOSL since 2007 in a number of highly acclaimed concerts, and contributing greatly to the orchestra’s development.
She studied conducting with Seiji Ozawa, Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Kenichiro Kobayashi, Yuji Yuasa, Tsunanobu Kawamoto, Hiroki Fujii and Douglas Bostock. She has been conducting many professional orchestras and wind ensembles in Europe, Japan and Sri Lanka.
She took a major role for founding Colombo Wind Orchestra, the first wind ensemble band in Sri Lanka, and has been performing with them since 2012. Ms Kobayashi will conduct the CWO on April 1st at the Lionel Wendt Theatre.
Dushyanthi Perera received her early musical education from the late Mrs. Averil Bartholomeusz and her mother, Mrs. Mala Seneviratne. She received her secondary education in London, where she studied cello under Alexander Bailey, later having lessons with the eminent Sri Lankan cellist Rohan de Saram as well. She was a member of the Junior London Symphony Orchestra, playing under Andre Previn and Ernest Reed.
She was for many years the principal cellist of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka (SOSL). In a long and distinguished career as a cellist, she has performed most of the major concertos written for cello and orchestra with the SOSL, including those by Dvorak, Elgar, Boccherini, Lalo, Kabalevsky, Victor Herbert, and the double and triple concertos of Brahms and Beethoven.
Lalanath de Silva started work on his Cello Concerto 2004, during a challenging time in his life. He has always seen the Cello as a hugely expressive stringed instrument. The first movement introduces the theme, which is dark and emotional. The work was then put aside, while he worked on other compositions.
Work on the concerto was recommenced in 2017 and completed in 2021. The 2nd to 4th movements were added and the work dedicated to his younger daughter Liyanga (a Cellist) as a gift for her 21st birthday.
The Concerto is scored for strings, with one each of the woodwinds and brass, and an array of percussion, including Tabla and Dholak. The work uses rhythmic ideas from Sri Lanka and the Indian sub-continent.
Keiko Kobayashi is a well-known figure in Sri Lankan classical music circles, having conducted the SOSL since 2007
The concert will feature Japanese Conductor, Maestra Keiko Kobayashi, Sri Lanka’s foremost Cellist Dushyanthi Perera and the World Premier of Composer Lalanath de Silva’s Cello Concerto.
This is the first Cello Concerto composed by a South Asian composer.
Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No 1 in C minor, was hailed upon its premier as one of the most magnificent in symphonic literature. It took him almost 20 years to complete. Brahms was concerned that “Writing a symphony is no laughing matter”, especially when he was following on the tradition after the greatest of composers, Ludwig Van Beethoven. “I shall never write a symphony! You have no idea how it feels to hear behind you the tramp of a giant like Beethoven,” Brahms declared. Luckily, for the music world, Brahms did not allow his initial qualms to prevent him from attempting such a composition, and the resulting symphony, although described by the composer as
“My symphony is long and not exactly lovable”, was “immediately recognised as one of the most distinctive and magnificent works of the symphonic literature.”
Franz Von Suppe’s Light Cavalry Overture, the composer’s most popular work by far, the main theme of which is instantly familiar for its frequent use in movies, media and even cartoons, will provide an aptly uplifting start to what promises to be an extremely special evening of music.
The SOSL is deeply grateful to Principal Sponsor, the Nations Trust
Bank, for their support of the Arts in Sri Lanka, recognising the long term impact of “value creation for a better tomorrow for everyone”.
The Nations Trust Bank SOSL Concert is supported by print media sponsors the Wijeya Group & electronic media sponsors the Maharaja Group, both long term sponsors of the SOSL.
Tickets and Box plan are at the Lionel Wendt Theatre.