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Umara Sinhawansa was born into a family of professional musicians. Her father, Tony Sinhawansa, and mother, Ayesha Sinhawansa,[2][3] exposed her to many genres of music, including jazz, hip hop, classical, and R&B. She has one sister, Umaria Sinhawansa, and two brothers.
Sinhawansa was educated at Muslim Ladies’ College. She represented Sri Lanka in three international singing competitions.[4] She and her sister, Umaria, won third place at the 2011 Crimea Music Fest and won first prize at the All-Island Singing Competition of Sri Lanka.[5][6]
Career
Sinhawansa made her first professional recording at the age of 10 with her sister Umaria and gave her first public performance at the age of 13.[7] Later, Umara teamed up with the singing duo Bathiya and Santhush and was the designated audio engineer when they toured.[citation needed] She has a vocal range of four and a half octaves.[8]
Some of her chart-toppers are "Wassanayata", "Shaheena", "Sihina Ko" and "Malak Thibuna" with Chithral Somapla and Kasthuri.[8] After her marriage to Risky Fahmi, she moved to Hong Kong, where she studied jazz under Dylan Lye.[citation needed] During a six-year stint in Hong Kong, she performed in the Chinese market and established herself as a Sri Lankan vocalist, performing with her band Proteus.[9][citation needed] After returning from Hong Kong in 2017, Umara launched her academy, Umara Music Studio (UMS),[10] which provides music and vocal training for students of all ages.[5][11]
National Anthem controversy
On 30 July 2023, Sinhawansa performed at the opening ceremony of the Lanka Premier Leaguecricket tournament held at R. Premadasa Stadium, along with singers Yohani and Chitral Somapala.[12] 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 by changing the word "matha" (mother) to "mahatha" (mister).[13] Others criticized her singing style as operatic and Westernized, deviating too much from the original style.
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