Shirly Waijayantha

Shirley Waijayantha (also spelled Shirly Waijayantha and Shirley Wijayantha), ෂර්ලි වෛජයන්ත, is a Sri Lankan singer, composer and music teacher whose full name is U. L. D. Shirley Waijayantha Gunasinghe. Active since around 1980, he is known both for his own recordings and for shaping younger voices in Sinhala classical and light music as a co-founder of a Kandy music school.

Early life and training

Waijayantha was born in 1956 in Dalugama, Kelaniya, and had his early schooling at Eriyawetiya Maha Vidyalaya. He studied music under Visharad P. V. Nandasiri and completed the Music Visharad examination, the formal grounding that runs through much of his later work in classical-leaning Sinhala song.

Career

He joined the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation and recorded songs for the “Sarala Gee” programme, the radio platform that introduced a generation of Sinhala vocalists. Over a career spanning more than four decades his style moved between light pop, soul and Indian classical influences. Alongside performing he became one of the founders of the Bellwood College of Music and later led the Bellwood Aesthetic Institute in Kandy, training singers including Chandralekha Perera.

Signature songs and collaborations

As a singer, composer and lyricist, Shirly Waijayantha often wrote and arranged the songs he performed. He recorded duets with Malani Bulathsinhala, including Seethala Pinne and Ma Hada Salena Gee Handa Mumuna, and composed for Chandralekha Perera on Dora Kawuluwen. His own well-known numbers include Man Bolada Wiye, Ma Sitha Miyuru and Mata Sihinayak Wagei.

Notable songs on Lyrics-lk

• Dora Kawuluwen
• Kawadada Aye
• Ma Sitha Miyuru
• Man Bolada Wiye
• Mata Sihinayak Wagei
• Seethala Pinne
• Ma Hada Salena Gee Handa Mumuna
• Geeyen Gayanne

Legacy

In November 2021 Shirley Wijayantha received the Kalabhooshana title at the State Kalabhooshana awards, recognising a long contribution to Sinhala music as both a performer and a teacher. For many listeners his name is tied as much to the students he trained as to his own catalogue of melodic, classically informed songs.