Music has the power to evoke deep feelings at the core of the shared human experience. Music has been used as a tool to connect and heal people, and that is what ‘The Concert’ aspires to do. Sound Scope presents “You’ll Never Walk Alone: the Concert” on the 30th of August at the Bishops’ College Auditorium. The concert is in aid of those victimised by the Easter Sunday attacks.  

The idea for the concert stemmed from the success of the music video released by Sound Scope on the 17th of May 2019. 

“We created a music video with numerous artistes with the intention of spreading positivity when Sri Lanka was at a low point following the Easter Sunday attacks. In light of the success of the music video, we decided we’d like to contribute something tangible as well, and thus, the idea for ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone: The Concert” was born. We pitched the idea to the artistes in the music video and to others with the hope they’d be interested in investing their time into pulling off a concert of this scale in order to raise funds for the survivors. Everyone came on board. The support garnered was overwhelming.” 
(Tilanka Jayamanne, Founder and CEO of Sound Scope)

The funds collected will be directed towards a specific objective.

“All proceeds from the concert will be directed towards Cardinal Malcom Ranjith’s fund for the education of children who have been affected in the Katuwapitiya and Kochchikade attacks, and will also be directed towards the Zonta Sri Lanka Chapter, who will use the funds for victims of the Zion church in Batticaloa.”
(Tilanka Jayamanne, Founder and CEO of Sound Scope)

The concert repertoire consists of many of Sri Lanka’s most esteemed musicians performing songs from a variety of genres including classical, pop, contemporary and jazz. The idea was to give the audience a more holistic experience rather than sticking to one genre. Audience members can look forward to seeing performances by Chrisantha de Silva (CC), Sheam Dean, Daniella Perera, Melissa Pereira, Nathan Eardly, Shobi Perera, Monique Pallegama, Christo Prins, Minesh Dissanayake, Lydia Goonetilleke, Pradeep John, Tilanka Jayamanne, Rukshan Aponso, Shevanka Fernando and Nishantha Warnakulasuriya. 

Guest performers include The De Lanerolle Brothers, The Old Joes’ Choir and Camerati.

The music- directed by Nishantha Warnakulasuriya- includes songs by the Beatles, Adele and many other popular artists. 

“The line up is full of high energy songs, so everyone can enjoy.” (Music Director, Nishantha Warnakulasuriya).

The approach taken to curate the concert repertoire sets this show apart from others of this nature. 

“We spoke to all the artistes in order to come up with pieces that best suited the concert, rather than leave it to the individual artist to perform just any song. In that way, we were able to make this show more meaningful and maintain a certain connection and flow. So our creative process was more of a collective process to avoid a ‘stand- and- deliver type performance’, and that is how this show stands  apart from the rest.” (Music Director, Nishantha Warnakulasuriya).

Apart from the musical ensemble backing individual artistes, there are also instrumentals and choirs to look forward to, and the show promises to keep audience members engaged. 

“The songs performed will have our own take to it, bringing in that element of unpredictability. We are sure everyone in the audience will enjoy the show.” 
(Tilanka) 

Tickets (priced at 3500, 3000, 2500, 2000, 1500 and 900) are available at The Commons, Arpico- Hyde Park and Tea Avenue- Barnes Place till Wednesday, after which, tickets will only be available with the point of contact (Shenelle- 076 785 3293), or at the gate on the 30th of August. 

The team at Sound Scope looks forward to seeing you at the show! 

Picture Credits: 

Shayne Perera
Manjula Perera
Akila Panditha
Praneeth Hettiarachchi
Kavindra Amaratunga
Ushan Gunasekera