The European Union (EU), together with the Embassy of Switzerland, the Italian Embassy, French Embassy, Alliance Française, Goethe-Institut and the British Council, will be hosting a multilingual jazz music tour across three key cities in Sri Lanka, with the view of celebrating this year’s European Day of Languages, falling on Sept 26.

As part of the broader EU Campaign on a Peaceful and Inclusive Society, the multilingual jazz music tour will feature mainstream, pop rock, jazz fusion, jazz pop and Latin jazz. The tour will begin in Colombo, travel to Kandy, and conclude in Jaffna, sharing the diversity of linguistic heritage with the people of Sri Lanka, to encourage intercultural understanding.

The inaugural concert will be held in Colombo, at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, on Saturday 24 September, from 6.30pm onwards. It is a free event open to everyone on a first-come-first-served basis. This concert will be followed by a jazz evening, in Kandy, on Monday 26 September, at 7pm, at the Slightly Chilled Lounge Bar and Restaurant. The final concert will be held at the Jaffna Public Library on Wednesday, 28 September, from 5.30pm onwards.

The event will feature performances by singer, guitarist and songwriter Eliane Amherd and bassist, bandleader, composer, and producer, Amanda Ruzza, in German, French, Italian, Portuguese and English.

Born in Switzerland, Eliane Amherd lives in New York and the city’s savvy multicultural energy has had an influence in the unique sound of her original compositions, which are jazzy, groovy and rooted in African, Brazilian and Latin music. A talented composer and lyricist and a graduate of The New School University for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Eliane performs as a leader or a featured artiste in New York’s premiere clubs and tours in North and South America, Canada, Europe and Asia, where she appeared in international Festivals in China, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, Nepal and Mongolia. She plays guitar in several NYC bands and collaborated with greats such as Marcus Strickland, Bashiri Johnson, Bill Ware, Hagar Ben Ari, Randy Brecker, etc.

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, to a Chilean mother and an Italian father, Amanda Ruzza grew up in a house, humming with music. Amanda began playing bass and engaging in professional performance early. Eventually, in Brazil, she worked with distinguished Brazilian producers and arrangers, including Grammy Award winner Moogie Canazio, Maestro Jobam and Sony Music Japan’s Osny Mello. She is based in New York at present. Besides being a musicia, fluent in an array of styles, Amanda is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and English.