Stanley Peiris (12 June 1941 – 13 October 2002) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n musician and musical composer.

Early life

Stanley Peiris was born in Kandy on 12 June 1941 and attended

St. Anthony's College, Kandy St. Anthony's College, Kandy is a Catholic School, Roman Catholic School in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The college was established in 1854 by the Franciscan missionary, Felice Zoppi. The college is under the management of the Sylvestrines, Syl ...

. He learnt music at the Kandy M.G.C. institute and later joined the

Sri Lanka Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

. He then formed a music group, Fortunes, which specialised in performing instrumental music, an innovative idea in the Sinhala pop scene.

Music

His musical career spanned more than forty years and he produced over 700 albums and composed scores for about 6,600 songs. Some of his popular melodies include; Lata Walpola's "Punsanda Eliyai",

Milton Mallawarachchi Sumanasiri Mallawarachchi Don (7 April 1944–10 March 1998: si, මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි), popularly known as Milton Mallawarachchi, was a Sri Lankan singer and musician. One of the most respected singers in S ...

's "Amaran Hengum",

Clarence Wijewardena Vithana Kuruppu Arachchilage Clarence Arthur Somasinghe Wijewardena Justice of the peace#Sri Lanka, JP ( si, ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන, ta, கிளாரன்ஸ் விஜேவர்தன; 3 August 1943 � ...

's "Duwa Ma Wage", Gration Amanda's "Tharu Yaye" and

Nirosha Virajini Virajini Lalithya de Silva, also known as Nirosha Virajini ( Sinhala: නිරෝෂා විරාජිනී) is a Sri Lankan award-winning singer, musician and music director with a career spanning over 23 years. Personal life Nirosha ...

's "Sigiri Geeyak Obe Hadawathe". In 1981 he composed music for the film ''Saranga'' and then for films including ''Soora Saradiel'' and ''Baisikalaya''. Peiris was teaching at

, where

Rookantha Gunathilake Mario Glory Rookantha Goonatillake (born 5 September 1959: si, රූකාන්ත ගුණතිලක), is a Sri Lankan singer, musician and songwriter. One of the most influential musical artists in Sri Lanka, Rookantha started his caree ...

was one of his students. Peiris then formed Galaxy, with Gunathilake, Mahinda Bandara and Keerthi Pasqual. Peiris helped composer

Dinesh Subasinghe Dinesh Subasinghe (born 10 July 1979, Colombo) is a Sri Lankan composer, violinist, and music producer. He composed ''Karuna Nadee'', a Buddhist oratorio, and re-introduced a lost, ancient musical instrument known as the ''ravanahatha'' to Sri ...

at the beginning of his music career in 2000. He has also collaborated with

Pandit A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Wea ...

W. D. Amaradeva Sri Lankabhimanya Wannakuwattawaduge Don Albert Perera ( si, වන්නකුවත්තවඩුගේ දොන් ඇල්බට් පෙරේරා; ta, டபிள்யூ. டி. அமரதேவா; 5 December 1927 – 3 Nov ...

Selected compositions

* - T.M. Jayarathna *Hanga Gal Leney -H.R. Jothipala * - Chandrika Siriwardhana * - Victor Rathnayake * - Nanda Malini *Peda Pasi Soyala - Abewardhana Balasooriya * - Milton Mallawarachchi * - Priya Suriyasena * - Sujatha Athanayaka * - Greshan Ananda * - Keerthi Pasquel * - Chandraleka Perera * - Niranjala Sarojini * - Raj Senivirathna * - Rookantha Gunathilaka * - Clarance Wijewardhana * - Sanath Nandasiri * - W.D. Amaradeva * - Nirosha Virajini * - Rohana Bogoda * - Raju Bandara * - Jayantha Disanayaka * - Athula Adhikari * - Nelu Adhikari * - Neela Wickramasinghe & Mervin Perera

Death

Peiris died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

on 13 October 2002, at his residence in Kandy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peiris, Stanley 2002 deaths 1941 births Sri Lankan Roman Catholics Sinhalese musicians Alumni of St. Anthony's College, Kandy Sri Lankan composers Sri Lankan saxophonists Musicians from Kandy 20th-century saxophonists