To those who have in the past years been in the music industry, you mention the words Moratuwa Arts Forum and the first thing they think of is “Down Memory Lane”. This year the event was held on August 25 with a house full of invitees, musicians and well wishers.
We had the opportunity of speaking with Lankika Perera a past President and the question was asked of her, how different was this edition of ‘Down Memory Lane’ from the others in the past?
“This year was the Silver Jubilee of the Moratuwa Arts Forum and the launching of the CD to mark the occasion was a fitting one. We had the event at the Sooriya Music Village in Colombo. Despite the threat of rain the event turned out to be an absorbing and glamorous one, with, I must say, a galaxy of Moratuwa’s singing stars in action among many other interesting features. As past presidents of the Forum, Brian Coorey and I were invited to narrate the musical story of Moratuwa and we were happy to do so paying tributes to many of our hometown musical stalwarts of the past. Here I would like to say Thank You to Priya Peiris who made this venture possible for the Moratuwa Arts Forum by negotiating with the Sooriya Music Village Management. Like the saying goes this CD is a “must buy” one if you are a lover of golden oldies.
So what was the program like for the evening?
The program for the evening commenced with the emcee Laksiri Fernando introducing the MAF President Lucky Deva who welcomed the audience to the launch of the Golden Oldies CD. Anuradha Mack, the current Secretary spoke and traced the successful ‘25 years of MAF’. In his speech he outlined the many musical and other artistic and social responsibility projects the Moratuwa Arts Forum carried out, in the past.
Were there singers performing to brighten the evening?
“Yes! Of course! There were many musical items that kept the audience entertained. The MAF singers were on stage to sing the songs that they had recorded for the CD. The evening climaxed to a ‘mini sing-a-long’ session with the audience lustily joined in for most of the songs. The song portraying the spirit and brotherhood of Moratuwa with the MAF singers – the traditional ‘chain medley’ of songs starting with the hometown Pibidev, Pibidev followed by a string of other favourites was sung much to the delight of everyone present.
Some of the evergreens features in this CD include Swanee River, Clementine, Home On The Range, Silver Haired Daddy. Under the Bridges of Paris, Silver Threads Among the Gold, and many, many more.
Udena Wickremasooriya of Sooriya Records speaking at the occasion said that Sooriya had traditionally been associated with quality music and was overjoyed with this collaboration with the Moratuwa Arts Forum.
Now what’s left is for you to purchase a CD to help MAF and to keep yourself happy.