Colombo bands perform for MoneyGram Cricket for Peace

The best amateur music bands in Colombo this week presented their compositions for the ongoing Cricket for Peace programme being conducted in the three World Cup hosting nations.

Overall, more than 100 bands from Sri Lanka India and Bangladesh are participating in the multi-country, multi-language citizen programme organised by MoneyGram International, a leading global money transfer company.

The Cricket for Peace programme calls for music bands to compose original music and song that depict how cricket can bring about the spirit of peace among masses. Bands from nine cities across Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh are vying for a place in the MoneyGram Cricket for Peace Music Album that will be launched in Mumbai on the eve of the ICC World Cup finals.

The auditions in Colombo saw bands perform their songs on the theme of Cricket for Peace. Bands included groups such as Highway, Soul, Stopwatch Theory, Fire, Dimensions, Elixir, Rebels and Battery.

Commenting on the response to the Cricket for Peace initiative, Harsh Lambah, Regional Director South Asia, MoneyGram International, said, “Cricket, like music, can be a great unifier. It is universal and can bring people from around the world together for one purpose. The MoneyGram Cricket for Peace initiative is a unique programme aimed at delivering a relevant social message using the game of cricket as the platform.

“MoneyGram’s brand and services are well known in ‘cricketing countries’ and, with our long-term cricket sponsorship, we aim to create a greater socially-relevant connection with our customers by combining the heritage of music and cricket for a greater purpose.”

The programme opened three weeks ago and has been widely promoted through social media and direct contact programmes. With the close of entries on 12 March and recent auditions, the central jury will evaluate the winner band from Colombo that will go into the MoneyGram Cricket for Peace Music Album.

Winners from similar auditions in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Dhaka and Chandigarh will also make it to the album.

The MoneyGram Cricket for Peace Music Album will be launched by eminent personalities from music and cricketing field in a finale event in Mumbai, India. The highlight of the finale will be the performance of a Tri-Nation Band constituted by nine lead singers from Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh.

The singers will come together in Mumbai to create the Cricket for Peace anthem that will be multi-lingual and multi-ethnic in nature, and will use Hindi, Bangla, Sinhala, Tamil and English languages. The finale will be held in Mumbai on 1 April 2011.

MoneyGram International, a leading global money transfer company, enables consumers who are not fully served by traditional financial institutions to meet their financial needs.

MoneyGram offers money transfer services worldwide and bill payment services in the United States through a global network of more than 227,000 agent locations — including retailers, international post offices and financial institutions — in more than 190 countries and territories around the world.