Neomal & Mano

Today on the Buzz I sit down with my Piliyandala buddies Uncle Mano and Neo who put up a beautiful show together with Jetwing and Danielle De Niese. I had a small chat about the show and the Music Foundation. 

What made you plan a show with Danielle De Neise? Neomal’s and my association with Danielle De Niese goes back to 2011, when we were planning our 80/40 milestone birthdays. When Danielle contacted us in early November 2022, that she was coming to Sri Lanka for Christmas with her family, Neo and I saw an ideal opportunity to bring her back on stage after three very uneventful and pandemic- riddled years that preceded.

Tell me about the Mano Chanmugam Music foundation and the work the foundation focuses on? The Foundation’s primary objective has always been to promote the ideals of Western Classical Music within Sri Lanka, especially among our youth, by introducing internationally acknowledged artistes on the local stage. Although our initial pre-covid programmes were very successful, the advent of the pandemic and the country’s current economic crisis has curtailed our efforts to a huge extent, hopefully we expect a brighter future.

The Foundation’s primary objective has always been to promote the ideals of Western Classical Music within Sri Lanka, especially among our youth, by introducing internationally acknowledged artistes on the local stage

How important do you think it is to organise such international A-Listers concerts or Shows in Sri Lanka? Many of our musically talented youth do not have the monetary advantages of advanced musical education in the exclusive international music academies of the world nor have most of them even a chance of experiencing world class concerts abroad. It is for these primary reasons that our Music Foundation in the past issued free passes to young talented musicians to attend our concerts. For extraneous reasons we were unable to offer the same dispensation at the recent concert.

 What’s next for the Mano Chanmugam music foundation? While we have already established limited visit scholarships to musically talented students, our ultimate ambition would be to offer 3 year resident music scholarships abroad.

Do you think that in the future we will have an audience to enjoy such music in terms of opera and classical singing? Sri Lanka is fortunate to enjoy an overall musical tradition, it is our intention to carve out a Western classical music trend which will eventually grow in intensity to enjoy Western Opera and Classical Singing.

 Danielle De Neise has worked with you multiple times. when did you meet her first and what made you think that she will be an ideal performer to entertain the music lovers in Sri Lanka? Danielle has worked with us on four occasions, one in Galle and thrice in Colombo. While we first met in 2011, Danielle debuted in Sri Lanka in 2012, She impressed us as possessing a unique “Stage Presence”. An individual who magically transformed the classically uninitiated and disinterested individual into an intent listener, enjoying every musical moment of this extraordinary Soprano. Danielle also performed again in 2018 in a celebration concert for the 70th Independence Day Commemoration.

  Danielle magically transformed the classically uninitiated and disinterested individual into an intent listener, enjoying every musical moment of this extraordinary 
Soprano.

Sponsors have always been a hard task as we have a very small audience to enjoy good classical music. what would you tell the big companies and establishments out there about the importance of working with music of this genre? Sponsor’s must be made aware that Western Classical Music is an acquired taste, that has overwhelmed Western audiences to patronise ‘The Theatre to Capacity” – full houses week after week.

It is a cultural and social responsibility for sponsors to promote this treasured culture in Sri Lanka to attract even South and East Asian audiences.