Lorna, Buyao enthrall US Goans
GOANEWS DESK, DETROIT | 10 July 2012 14:28 IST
Lorna engrossed into singing at US Convention in Detroit
Goan nightingale Lorna, along with Sidhanath Buyao and his group, enthralled the Goans settled in America at the 11th North American Goan Convention held in Detroit, Michigan.
The group performed soon after reaching Detroit as their arrival was delayed due to denial of visa initially, which was later granted to them after interviewing them again.
The eagerly waiting US residents literally cheered when the group arrived.
While the group of Buyao Theatres performed mainly Konkani songs, US-based Uma Kelekar and Sanjeet Hegde Desai also joined them with Konkani numbers.
The crowd of over two hundred US-based Goans literally danced to Sidhanath Buyao, who presented songs composed by Late Ulhas Buyao.
The grand finale of the convention was a mesmerizing performance by Goa’s nightingale Lorna and Michigan’s Agnelo Fernandes.
The scheduled performance by Lorna was extended by 45 minutes, with the enthused crowd demanding more and more songs from Lorna.
The program culminated with a joint performance by Lorna and Buyao.
Yatin Talaulikar and Mr. Norman Cardozo were on Jambe and keyboard respectively.
Prashant Naik and Sanjeet Hegde Desai were the masters of ceremony.
Prior to the performance, outgoing president of Goa’s Konkani Bhasha Mandal presented a paper on “Goa: Yesterday & Today”, analysing social, political and cultural aspects of the changing Goan society.
The three day Convention held from July 6-8 at the Holiday Inn Convention Centre included performances by attendees, dinner cruise on the Detroit River overlooking Canada as well as seminar on foreign taxes and special activities for second generation Goans
A Konkani film O’ Maria was also screened at the convention.
The convention was coordinated and organized by Mr. Mahendra Kenkre, Chairperson of the 2012 North American Goan Convention with support from Shama Kenkre, Nilesh and Neha Bhandare, Vivek and Renee Kaisare, Sudin and Rupali Kamat and Dr. Anil and Vanita Shirwaikar. 
The major sponsors of the event were Dr. Gajanan and Vidya Gaitonde, Dr. Rajiv and Seema Hede, Dr. Madhav and Hema Naik, Dr. Arun and Dr. Shubhada Sawardekar, Dr. Anil and Vanita Shirwaikar, Dr. Rajanikant and Dr. Rajani Usgaonkar, Arun and Swati Virginkar, and State Bank of India, New York.
In his concluding address, Kenkre thanked the officials at the US Consulate in Mumbai for granting visas to the Goan artists.
