ශ්යාමි ෆොන්සේකා
3 songs performed
Shyami Fonseka (ශ්යාමි ෆොන්සේකා, also spelled Shami Fonseka) is a Sri Lankan vocalist who rose to prominence in the late 1970s after Clarence Wijewardena recruited her for his band Golden Chimes. Her clear, Western-styled voice carried a small but lasting set of recordings that remain in rotation among Sinhala listeners.
Shyami Fonseka began performing around 1976. A self-taught singer who shaped her phrasing by listening to vocalists such as Barbra Streisand and Natalie Cole, she was spotted by Clarence Wijewardena, whose distinctive arrangements framed her early work. Her first recordings included the solo numbers Geeyakin Kese, Rasa Pirunu Katha, and “Aa Ha Ha Danee”, along with the Wijewardena duet “Me Seetha Reye”.
She is often noted as one of the few female Sri Lankan vocalists to sing while playing the keyboard. Beyond solo work, she appears on the ensemble piece Bindu Bindu Kandulu Gala alongside Greshan Ananda, Priya Sooriyasena, and Milton Mallawarachchi.
Music ran through her family: her grandfather Boniface Fonseka was a choir director, her father a full-time musician, and her siblings all sang. After marriage she stepped back from the stage to teach voice and raise a family, which kept her catalogue compact but durable.
Every Sinhala lyric, composition, and song credit by Shyami Fonseka.