Gayathri Khemadasa is a Sri Lankan composer and contemporary classical pianist. Born in 1976 in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, she is the daughter of

Premasiri Khemadasa Deshamanya Kala Keerthi Dr.Premasiri Khemadasa ( Sinhala: ආචාර්ය ප්‍රේමසිරි කේමදාස ) (25 January 1937 – 24 October 2008) also known as "Khemadasa Master" was a Sri Lankan music composer. Exploring ...

. She was educated at

Ladies College, Colombo (Latin) , motto_translation = This is the victory, even our faith - 1 John 5: 4 , location = 66 Sir Ernest de Silva mawatha, Colombo 7 , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Sri Lanka Colombo Municipality , pushpin_image = ...

and studied music at the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory or Prague Conservatoire ( cs, Pražská konzervatoř) is a music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, Prague Conservatory offers four or six year study courses, which can be compared to the level ...

and

Masaryk University Masaryk University (MU) ( cs, Masarykova univerzita; la, Universitas Masarykiana Brunensis) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno as the seco ...

, Czech Republic. She began performing in public in 2005, in order to raise money for the victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami. In 2011, she was awarded a Fulbright Professional Scholarship and became a visiting scholar at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

where she began writing an opera on

Phoolan Devi Phoolan Devi (1963–2001), popularly known as the Bandit Queen, was an Mallah woman who grew up in poverty in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Her family was in a land dispute which caused many problems in her youth and after b ...

. In 2015, at the

Derana Film Awards ''Derana Film Awards'' (Sinhala:දෙරණ සිනමා සම්මාන) is an award bestowed to distinguished individuals involved with the Sri Lanka's silver screen, each year by the TV Derana, Sri Lanka in recognition of the contributi ...

, Khemadasa became the first Sri Lankan woman to win a national award for Best Original Score with the film

Thanha Rathi Ranga ''Thanha Rathi Ranga (Between Yesterday and Tomorrow)'' ( si, තණ්හා රතී රඟා) is a 2014 Sri Lankan Sinhala drama thriller film directed by Nilendra Deshapriya, in his directorial debut, and produced by Sunil T. Fernando for ...

. The following year, she won the award for Best Music Director at the

Hiru Golden Film Award ''Hiru Golden Film Awards'' (Sinhala:හිරු රන් සිනමා සම්මාන) is an award bestowed to distinguished individuals involved with the Sri Lanka's silver screen, awarded by the Asia Broadcasting Corporation, Sri Lan ...

for the same film. In 2022, at the Ceylon International Film Festival in California, She became the first Sri Lankan to win an international award for Best Music with the film

The Newspaper ''The Newspaper'' is the largest independent student newspaper in Canada with circulation on and around the University of Toronto. It has been published by non-profit corporation Planet Publications Inc. and financially self-supported since its ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khemadasa, Gayathri Sri Lankan composers Sri Lankan women composers Sri Lankan pianists Sri Lankan women pianists 1976 births Living people Prague Conservatory alumni