Sanath Nandasiri passes away

Veteran singer and musician Sanath Nandasiri has passed away this morning (March 28) at the age of 81.

The President of the Sri Lanka Singers’ Association Janaka Wickramasinghe announced to the media that Sanath Nandasiri passed away at his residence due to severe illness.

He said Funeral arrangements would be announced later.

One of the iconic singers in Sri Lankan music, Sanath Nandasiri is also a music director and composer who has received several awards for his compositions in a career spanning more than six decades.

In 1974, he launched his first solo concert ‘Swarna Kundala’ which was later performed for more than 250 concerts. In 1979, he recorded his first full album with the same title of his concert. This included his popular songs “Kisiwak Nokiyana” and “Egodaha Kandey”.

After that he recorded three major albums for Singlanka 1980 and 1981 which included some of his best-known songs such as “Eka Yayata Mal” and “Mama Nam Asayi”. In addition, he has recorded songs for films most notably under the music direction of Premasiri Khemadasa.

In 2016, Sanath Nandasiri was appointed as the Chancellor of the University of the Visual and Performing Arts, following the demise of late veteran musician Pandith Amaradeva.

He was the the third Chancellor of the University of the Visual and Performing Arts, and as a veteran musician had served as a Head of the Department of the Institute of Aesthetic Studies and as the first Dean of the Faculty of Music of the University of the Visual and Performing Arts.

He was honoured with an honorary professorship as a tribute to his outstanding contribution to the field of creative music in Sri Lankan.

In 2018, a ceremony was held at the Western Province Aesthetic University Resort Auditorium to pay homage to Prof. Sanath Nandasiri with a concert titled ‘Ninnada 2018 Thunpath Rata Swara Dehana’.

During the event, then President Maithripala Sirisena presented a special honorary award to Nandasiri.

In 2019, a collection of 100 lyrics and chords of Nandasiri’s songs titled “Rasanandaya”, was released at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute.

In the same year, he was honoured with the “Janabhimani” Honorary Award at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).