Pics: Clement Pais
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (CLP)
Mangalore, Aug 16: The crowd that gathered at Kelarai grounds here on Friday August 15 took home fond memories of an evening that reverberated with enchanting music. The 9th Stan Nite, by Stanlislaus Mendonca (Stan) from UK, entertained Konkani music lovers with plenty of songs and side-splitting comedy, drawing much appreciation from one and all.
A highlight of the event was launch of Alfred Bennis Creations, an event management venture by Alfred Bennis, a close friend of Stan. The musical nite was organized in association with Alfred Bennis Creations.
On the occaison, Stan was honoured with the title of 'Sangeet Saurabh'. His achievements and journey from childhood were narrated. Over the past 20 years, since his first musical nite in 1994, Stan has staged eight shows, out of which seven were with the help of Alfred Bennis. Stan also is the first Konkani singer to have staged a musica show in the UK.
Accepting the honour, Stan expressed joy at the launch of Alfred Bennis Creations and said that he has known Alfred from a very long time. "I know him well and I have seen how hard he works. I am overjoyed to witness the launch of his venture," he said.
"Earlier, there used to be no support from people to stage musical nites. I had to go abroad and work. Later Alfred was the one who came forward to help me in arranging musical shows, and I immensely grateful to him. It is not that we never had misunderstandings, but whenever we did, we resolved them quickly. Good friendships last long, while bad ones wither fast," he added, wishing a bright future and all success to Alfred's new venture.
The musical evening began with the song 'Ashavadi' by Stan, followed by the song 'Dhinta Dhintana' by his daughter Sonal. Together with Stan and Sonal, other singers like Ashvija, Elston, Joseph Mathias, Reshma, Ashwin and Melric rocked the stage with tremendous performances that evoked much appreciation from the audience.
During the intervals, the popular Me-Mo-Ri team spread a riot of laughter among the audience with their humorous skits.
Live music perfectly complemented the singing. Jill Gavin D'Souza (drums), Patson Pereira (bass), Sanjay Rodrigues (keyboard), Joshwin D'Cunha (lead guitar), Suresh Shetty (percussion and Arun Siri (trumpet) provided the music.
The formal stage programme was compered by Felix Moras while Vincent Mendonca was the emcee for the musical show.
Fr Jochim Fernandes, parish priest of Kelrai, Fr Francis Rodrigues of Raknno Weekly, Roy Castelino, president of Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy, Louis Pinto, president of Mandd Sobhann, Joseph Mathias of Merit Freight Systems LLC, Anil Lobo, vice-president of Catholic Sabha central council, Praveen Tauro, and John D'Souza Milar, were present.