The Young Musicians of the Western Music Society once again secured their position in the All-island Western Music & Dance Competition 2022. The competition was held on 29th and 30th September 2022 at the National Institute of Education, Maharagama.
Master Nadil Abeyratne from grade 12 emerged as the Champion in the All Island Piano Solo Senior Category by qualifying through the provincial level. Nadil, pursuing music since age 5, displayed his talents as a bona fide virtuoso pianist. Given the option of choosing two works, he went with,
Polonaise in A flat op.53 “Heroic” by the reputed Polish-French composer Frédéric Chopin
Polonaise, one of the most admired compositions of the composer and a long-time favourite of the romantic piano, was played by Master Nadil, manifesting piano skills and virtuosity as if mastered professionally.
Humoresque by Rodion Shchedrin.
The young pianist brought out the tongue-in-cheek humour of this very effective piece, carried out by its best-captured steady tempo, captivating everyone present.
In his own words,
“I chose these two pieces because they possess contrasting styles and techniques which brings out a great performance while showcasing the pianist’s flair”
Nadil Abeyratne
Master Shevindra Herath of Grade 13 triumphed as 1st runner-up in the Senior Vocal Solo, performing a set work and work of his own choice. He performed,
Where E’er You Walk by the German-British Baroque luminary George Frederic Handel as the set work.
Said to be Handel’s favourite tenor, Where E’er You Walk is an Aria from the opera “Semele”. With his mellow and robust Tenor voice, the Vocalist brought out the true spirit of the Opera. With great control and strength evident throughout his performance, he portrayed Jupiter as he described the paradise in his palace gardens to Semele.
As his song of choice, he performed,
Don’t Rain on My Parade by Barbra Streisand from the musical “Funny Girl”.
Considered one of the most technically demanding Broadway songs, Master Shevindra took it as a Challenge and performed it with an outstanding level of virtuosity and light-hearted modulation, going hand in hand with its upbeat lyric and rhythmic drive. As an active member of the Trinity College Drama Society, showing his love towards theatre and theatre music, he did a justifying performance to both the works coming from theatrical and Broadway backgrounds.
The Senior Choral Group of Trinity College emerged as 1st runners-up in the Senior Choir category. As the Set Song, the Choral Group performed “A Whole New World“, composed by Alan Menken, and worded by Tim Rice, an award-winning key song from Disney’s animated classic from 1992, Alladin.
As the Choice Song, the Choral group performed “In Christ Alone“ by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. In Christ Alone is a popular contemporary Christian worship song. The Group did a solemn performance of an acapella version arranged by Stephen J Nasby, infusing everyone with a deep sense of spirituality.
The participants:
Shevindra Herath (President)
Lolonyo Rahulan
Abidh Jameel
Vinuth Warnasooriya
Chethiya Bandara
Manuth Bandara
Nadil Abeyratne
Minuka Wickramasinghe
Ryan Weerasekara
Sethmal Dissanayake
Sethlath Dissanayake
Joshua Shelomith
Thevan Ratnatilake
Udantha Jayasinghe
Mevindu Attanayake
Amal Ahamed
Bryan Sooriyapathi
Senul Rathnayake
Hansana Jayasundara
Chamath Sinhalage
Trehan Sinnen
Hasitha Herath
Tehan Andaramanna
Adithya Herath
Rashmika Herath
The All-island Western Music & Dance Competition is an annual event hosted by the Sri Lanka Ministry of Education that brings together young western musicians from all over the country to compete in various categories. These categories range from pianists and solo singers to chamber groups and western dancers and western bands to choral groups.
We congratulate the Trinity College Western Music Society on their victory, which was made possible by the participants’ tremendous dedication in bringing honor and glory to God Almighty and their Alma Mater. We also wish to express our appreciation to the teachers-in-charge, Mrs Chryshanthi Cabraal Surendrakumar, Mrs Krishni George, Ms Ridmi Weerasinghe, and Ms Shayanika Perera, for their guidance and dedication.
A review by Samiru Herath (Web Content Team)