The Sri Lankan community of New England has made history by forming the first .JPG)
traditional drum orchestra outside of Sri Lanka and performing for American audiences. This venture is the brainchild of Dr Arjuna Balasuriya, a research scientist at MIT specializing in mobile robotics, and a passionate musician. The Pancha Thurya drum orchestra aims to promote the traditional drum sounds and music of Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan community in New England organizes many cultural activities but there has hitherto been no proper platform for the community to promote its culture, especially if they want to perform for American audiences. Hence Arjuna’s inspiration to start a drum orchestra. The response from the local community was overwhelming; families asked if he could train their kids, even adults wanted to be a part of the gig, so he agreed to give it a try. The age of the orchestra members ranges from five year olds to adults in their sixties.
Obtaining the genuine Sri Lankan drums took some effort. Fifty drums were ordered in Sri Lanka, manufactured and shipped to the US over a period of a year. There are many regulations in the US for importing any thing made of skin (rabbit, cow, deer, monkey etc.) so the drums had to pass US import regulations as well.
Maintaining the drums in New England weather is a problem too. The tropical wood is not suited to this climate, especially in the winter. They need to be stored in a controlled environment at set humidity and temperature levels. So each drum owner needs to take great care to maintain their instrument.
Says Arjuna,“It takes years to master a Sri Lankan drum so we till have a long way to go. But what I found was that if you get the very simplest beat and train students in it, you can get so much out of it. So we focused on the fundamentals – posture, beat, respect for the instruments, and the tradition of respecting elders, and praying before performing, according to Sri Lankan culture.”
The challenge for Arjuna and his wife Vanoji who helps teach drum techniques, was getting the coordination of the hands and the rhythm pattern. “Sri Lankan drum rhythms and beats are different to the west, almost offbeat. And then you have very strange beats like 7-8 beats. It’s not a fixed change and the kids were not used to it. Also getting the correct posture was difficult because the drums are heavy and these are small kids.”
With minimal practice and training the drum orchestra debuted in public over the past summer performing in Acton, Somerville and Cambridge. The Acton Town Council presented all of the orchestra members with an endorsed certificate.
The orchestra members wear traditional Sri Lankan drummer’s costumes when performing. It takes up to two hours for a male drummer to get ready – the costume consists of layers of cloth rolled around the body. American audiences have been curious to learn more about Sri Lanka where typically they have only heard about the island nation in the context of negative events such as the 2004 Tsunami, the ongoing civil war, assassinations and suicide bomb attacks.
Says Arjuna, “What we want is to get the attention of cultural organizations in the US. For example the Museum of Fine Arts is interested in displaying Sri Lankan instruments which they don’t currently have in their collection. The Massachusetts Cultural Council is willing to fund our activities, such as inviting Sri Lankan artistes to perform here. We also want to get Americans interested in learning how to play the drums and other instruments.”
So what does the future hold for Pancha Thurya? The response has been overwhelming. “I am so busy,” says Arjuna. “We are planning to perform for bigger gatherings. In addition Endicott College has a jazz band and they have invited me to do some workshops and they want to collaborate with our orchestra. They were struck by the uniqueness of our drums and costumes.”
Good luck to Arjuna and the member of Pancha Thurya as they continue their journey and mission to share the experience of Sri Lankan music and culture in the USA.
Famous Sri Lankan DrumsGatabera - The typical Sinhala dance is identified as the Kandyan dance and this drum is indispensable to this danceYak-bera - This is the demon drum or the drum used in low country dance in which the dancers wear masks and perform devil dancing, which has become a highly developed art formDawula - A barrel shaped drum used as a companion drum in the past, to keep strict time with the beatThammattama - A flat, two faced drum held at waist level. The drummer strikes the drum on the two surfaces with sticks, unlike the others where you drum on the sides. This is a companion drum to the aforementioned DawulaUdekki - A small double headed hand drum, used to accompany songs. It is mostly heard in the poetry dances (vannam)
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