මල්කාන්ති නන්දසිරි
8 songs performed
Malkanthi Nandasiri (මල්කාන්ති නන්දසිරි), born Malkanthi Peiris, is a Sri Lankan vocalist known for her duets with her husband, the music master Sanath Nandasiri, and for melodic Sinhala songs such as Seetha Rae Wasanthe and Hichchi Nage.
Malkanthi Nandasiri was the eldest in a musically inclined family, with three sisters and two brothers. She met Sanath Nandasiri in 1967 during a Vesak drama titled “Mara Parajaya,” and the two married on 18 December 1971. Music ran through the wider family: one of her sisters, the singer Nirmala, married the tabla player Wijeratne Ranatunga, and another, Niranjala, married the musician Abeywardena Balasuriya.
Much of Malkanthi Nandasiri’s recorded work sits alongside Sanath Nandasiri, with whom she sang both before and after their marriage. Their partnership produced enduring duets in the classical Sinhala light-song tradition, including Seetha Rae Wasanthe and Hichchi Nage, songs that remain familiar to listeners across the Sinhala diaspora.
As a soloist she is associated with titles such as Sahasak Pathuman, Sanda Kelum Galana, and Bambaru Nodutu Malak. Her catalogue also includes Maha Sayure Diya Gambare, Rosa Karaththee, and Du Daruwan Apa Athahara Yawi.
Malkanthi and Sanath Nandasiri’s daughter, Anuradha Nandasiri, is also a vocalist, and the three performed together across concerts such as “Prathama Wasanthayai” (2015) and “Du Anuradha” (2018). Malkanthi appeared at Sanath’s “Anuradha” concert series from the early 1980s onward. Sanath Nandasiri died on 28 March 2023, closing a shared musical career that spanned more than five decades.
Every Sinhala lyric, composition, and song credit by Malkanthi Nandasiri.