Umara Sinhawansa

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Umara Sinhawansa (born 14 March 1989) is a Sri Lankan singer, songwriter, producer, and audio engineer. She contributed to the country's pop, R&B, and Jazz genres. Sinhawansa worked with the musical group Bathiya and Santhush before transitioning to a solo singing career.

Umara Sinhawansa was born into a family of professional musicians, father Tony Sinhawansa and mother Ayesha Sinhawansa,^[1][2] who allowed her to be exposed to all genres of music from jazz and hip hop to classic and R&B. She has one sister, (Umaria Sinhawansa), and two brothers. Umara was educated at Muslim Ladies’ College and represented Sri Lanka in three international singing competitions.^[3] She and her sister Umaria won third place at the 2011 Crimea Music Fest, competing against singers from all around the world, and won first prize at the All-Island Singing Competition of Sri Lanka.^[4][5]

She did her first professional recording at the age of 10 along with her sister Umaria, and made her first public performance at the age of 13. Later on Umara teamed up with the singing duo Bathiya and Santhush, and was the designated audio engineer when they toured. She has a vocal range of four and a half octaves.^[6] Some of her chart toppers are "Wassanayata", "Shaheena", "Sihina Ko" and "Malak Thibuna" with Chithral Somapla and Kasthuri.^[6] After her marriage to Risky Fahmi, she moved to Hong Kong, where she learned jazz under Dylan Lye. During a 6-year stint in Hong Kong, she performed in the Chinese market and established herself as a Sri Lankan vocalist while performing with her band Proteus. After returning from Hong Kong in 2017, Umara launched her academy, Umara Music Studio (UMS)^[7] which provides music and vocal training for students of all ages.^[4][8]

On 30 July 2023, Sinhawansa performed at the opening ceremony of the Lanka Premier League cricket tournament held at R. Premadasa Stadium, along with singers Yohani and Chitral Somapala.^[9] Sinhawansa came under scrutiny for her rendition of "Sri Lanka Matha", the national anthem of Sri Lanka. Critics accused her of allegedly distorting the lyrics, changing the word "matha" (mother) to "mahatha" (mister).^[10] Others criticized her style of singing as operatic and Westernized, deviating too much from the style of the original.

Public opinion was divided on social media.^[11] While many heavily criticized Sinhawansa for "tarnishing" the national anthem,^[12] others including public figures such as singer Ashanthi De Alwis and Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Chamathka Ratnayake,^[13] came to her defense. Politicians from the country's Buddha Sasana and Ministry of Public Administration condemned the event as unconstitutional, sighting the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka's protections of the national anthem.^[14]

On 31 July 2023, the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government issued a gazette written by ministry secretary Ranjith Asoka, stating that a probe will be launched to investigate the alleged distortion of the national anthem.^[15]

On 2 August 2023, Sinhawansa issued an apology on social media, stating, "I love my Motherland. I never intended to distort the words of the national anthem nor cause any sort of misrepresentation. I do understand the sentiments of my people. Therefore, I do extend my heartfelt and sincere apology to anyone that may have been affected/offended by my performance."^[16][17]

• Represented Sri Lanka at two international singing competitions held in Kazakhstan and China.^[1]
• Won the Bronze Award at the Crimea Music Festival held in Ukraine (2011), singing along with her sister Umaria.^[4]
• Became youngest female artist in Sri Lanka to have collaborated with the international artist Shankar Mahadevan (Shankar Ehsaan Loy)^[4]