| She was on the Colombo stage on January 9, dazzling the local audience with her brilliance at a concert for the Sunera Foundation. Now Kishani Jayasinghe has brought pride to Sri Lanka in Barcelona. Two weeks into the New Year, she was awarded the top female opera prize at the Francesco Viñas International Vocal Competition 2009 in Barcelona, Spain.
The Francesco Viñas is one of the most highly competitive annual singing competitions in the world and this year too it attracted over 450 applicants from as many as 50 countries.
Preliminary selection rounds took place around the world including London, New York, Milan and Hamburg. The participants too come from as far and wide with a majority from Europe, Korea and the Americas. Kishani was the sole representative from South Asia and says she was “delighted and honoured to have been awarded the top female opera prize at a competition of this calibre”.
The finals of the competition took place within the glamorous confines of the Liceu, Barcelona’s grand opera house, which seats over 2,200 people. The prize winners then performed in a concert the following day, to a sell-out audience at the Liceu accompanied by their in-house orchestra.
“It was incredible. Singing in such a stunning and historic venue at maximum capacity was inspiring. The applause after each aria was amazing and simply thrilling as the audience never seem to hold anything back. If they like you and what you do, they have no trouble showing you exactly how much they appreciate you!”
Kishani added that she only wishes that her husband, family and teachers could have been there to witness it all. “Unfortunately this is not always possible, but fingers crossed the next time I sing at the Liceu they will all be there.”
It seems the international competition circuit has served Kishani very well. In August 2008, she was awarded the second prize at the Leyla Gencer International Voice Competition in Istanbul, Turkey, with the first prize going to a Turkish colleague.
The finals were held at the amphitheatre inside the sacred walls of the Topkapi Palace with the Istanbul state orchestra accompanying them. “It was such an honour to be inside those hallowed walls, let alone to be asked to sing there!”
Keeping up her winning streak, a month after her triumph in Istanbul, Kishani was awarded the Arlene Auger prize for the Most Accomplished All round Singer in Opera, Oratorio and Lied at the Dutch International Vocal Competition. Another renowned singing competition with several hundred international participants but once again - as was the case in Spain and Turkey - Kishani was the sole South Asian representative and clinched the coveted prize.
Quite apart from succeeding at these international competitions, Kishani says her proudest moment is seeing the Sri Lankan flag flying high on the operatic stage during the finals or the prize winners’ concerts. “It’s a very emotional moment for me when I see my flag flying high amongst other established singing nations and it makes me feel very proud. I also feel that it is only the beginning of the road for us. As the art form develops amongst Sri Lankans, I know we will be a force to be reckoned with in the opera world!”
I saw her, in all her stunning youthful glory, weaving her magic - with a soul overflowing with joy and a voice oozing pure molten gold - upon a spellbound audience at the Lionel Wendt at the start of this year. Given that she is still only in the early spring of her career, Kishani’s star has only just begun to rise.
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