ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka classical music director and pianist Soundarie David Rodrigo, is launching her first mainstream music video with a song in two languages sung by Shehara Liyanage and Hirushi Jayasena, online fashion retailer Odel.lk, which is backing the release said.
‘Complicated’ or ‘Mulawe Maya’ by Soundarie Rodrigo is the first song in Sri Lanka to be released simultaneously in English and Sinhala, on International Women’s Day, Odel, a unit of Softlogic Holdings Plc said.
The song composed by Rodrigo was transcribed to Sinhala by Shehan Galahitiyawa.
“We are deeply honoured to partner with Soundarie as she forays into the world of main stream music, after years of being in the forefront of the Sri Lankan western classical music industry and having fostered much young talent herself,” Softlogic Holdings Plc Group Marketing Director Desiree Karunaratne said in a statement.
“This is nothing but a promisingly positive beginning to the ‘Composed by Odel.lk’ initiative to empower female artists in the country who are shaking up the status quo and pushing the boundaries of Sri Lankan music. ”
A music video featuring Hirushi Jayasena released last year had drawn 8.5 million views so far.
“I am both humbled and delighted to be able to release this project on a day that celebrates and recognises women,” Rodrigo was quoted as saying in the statement.
“It is remarkably difficult to break into the Sri Lankan music industry and even more difficult to make it far as a female artist.”
Soundarie David Rodrigo is an award-winning music and choral director, pianist, music educationalist, and now composer who completed her musical career at Royal College of Music in London.
She is the Founder and Music Director of Soul Sounds’, an all female choir which with international performances and ‘Soul Sounds Academy’.
As a soloist, Soundarie has performed both locally and internationally and has also collaborated with others.
She is the Sri Lankan Representative on the Council for Musica Mundi, and is a jury member at international choral competitions.
Soundarie is a lawyer with a masters’ in law in Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law from the University of California, Berkeley.
She was the Deputy Director at the SAARC Cultural Centre from its inception to 2016. (Colombo/Mar07/2021)