R. A. Chandrasena
| R. A. Chandrasena ආර්. ඒ. චන්ද්රසේන |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ranasinghe Arachchige Chandrasena Perera |
| Also known as | Chandrasena Master |
| Born |
27 August 1924 Mahanuvara (Kandy), Sri Lanka |
| Origin | Sri Lanka |
| Died | 1 March 1980 (aged 55) Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Genres | Sri Lankan music, Folk music, Raga, Film, Radio and |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer, music director |
| Years active | 1924–1980 |
| Labels | RAC and Shrimath |
| Website | http://ra.chandrasena.org |
R. A. Chandrasena (Sinhala: ආර්. ඒ. චන්ද්රසේන) was a Sri Lankan musician who earned his reputation as a highly talented and gifted artist and also by his contribution to the Sri Lankan music discipline and the industry during 1940–1980.
He commenced his career when he was twelve years old in late 1930s at his entry to the musical programmes in Radio Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation) with his gifted talents in playing many musical instruments whatever came to his hands. Notably, excelling in keyboard instruments such as harmonium, piano accordion, piano, organ and also the oriental instruments such as tabla, mandolin and violin.
Chandrasena established his institute of music in December 1951 and titled it as Chandrasena Sangeethaayathanaya (Chandrasena Institute of Music). This institute turned out be the stepping stone for many musicians in that era and in the subsequent generation. R A Chandrasena provided his experties, knowledge and mentorship to many artists in a humble and relentless manner during his lifetime.
In 1969, Chandrasena launched a gramophone record company by which 45 RPM EP records were issued to the Sri Lankan Sinhala songs market under the labels of RAC and Shrimath. All the songs in these records were composed and music directed by R A Chandrasena and he managed to use the talents of many professional singers and lyrics writers effectively in these master pieces.
During his relatively short life, he achieved reputations as a professional composer, a singer, a drama/film music director, a music teacher and more over as a mentor for many musicians and artists at the early stages of their professional path, especially in refining their talents. Among the many, the key personalities who were well coached and mentored by Chandrasena are Dharmadasa Walpola (1949), Guruge Khemadasa Perera, later known as Premasiri Khemadasa (1953), and Victor Ratnayake (1962).
Chandrasena was born on 27 August 1924 in Mahanuvara, much known as Kandy, in central Sri Lanka to a Sinhala Buddhist family. At birth, he was named as Ranasinghe Arachchige Chandrasena Perera. His parents were Ranasinghe Arachchige Jeiris Perera and Selesthina Dias Abeysinghe whose generations had been from Mahanuwara. Chandrasena was the third child of the eleven children in the family. His father was not a musician by profession, but a highly talented musician whose exposure could have influenced Chandrasena to admire music since his childhood.
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