Return of SOSL POPS!

• On 15 and 16 September at Bishop’s College Auditorium

There’s always a hum of excitement and anticipation whenever the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka (SOSL) takes to the stage to perform its annual POPS Concert. 

This year the concert will be held on both 15 and 16 September at the Bishop’s College Auditorium. Dynamic conductor Dushyanthi Perera will lead the orchestra through a program of music that is certain to appeal to multiple generations.  

The concert will as always focus on blockbuster movie music and will include the iconic opening from James Bond, Hans Zimmer’s brooding theme music for Batman – the Dark Knight Rises and Adele’s Skyfall from the eponymous 007 film. 

This year the Orchestra will focus on music from Sri Lankan cinema, with its performance of Harsha Makalanda’s Variations on a Theme from ‘Pavaru Vallalu’. The composition for orchestra and guitar is drawn from the score Makalanda wrote for the award winning movie Pavaru Vallalu. 

Guitarist Jude Peiris, who played on the original film recording, will perform as soloist. Harsha Makalanda’s musical career has spanned a period of over four decades during which he has successfully fused Asian and Western musical elements in a repertoire that includes folk, jazz, pop and oriental classical music. The SOSL will also pay homage to the greats of the last century with tunes such as Moon River, Bohemian Rhapsody, a Tribute to Mancini and a medley from the ever-popular musical Phantom of the Opera.

Soul Sounds singers Shehara Liyanage, Amandhi Caldera and Dinushka Jayawickreme have performed with the SOSL at previous POPS concerts to rapturous applause. The trio will return once again this year, bringing with them their signature ebullience, to belt out a number of popular songs. The concert will also feature Niran de Mel, an internationally trained young tenor who will sing Frank Sinatra’s timeless classic, My Way. 

The songs from Lion King and Mamma Mia can stir even the most curmudgeonly souls, and musicians Randhir Witana and Ashanthi de Alwis will come together to perform medleys from both these well-loved movies. They will be backed by singers from Ashanthi’s School of Music. 

SOSL POPS is sponsored by Principal Sponsor First Capital Holdings with Co-Sponsor Vision Care, Creative Partner JWT, Print Media Sponsor Wijeya Newspapers Ltd and Electronic Media Sponsors Yes FM, TV1 and Legends 96.6.

Tickets and Box plan are at the Bishop’s College Auditorium.