Lilanka Botejue

A dynamic personality with a flair for creativity and a passion for music, Lilanka is a founding member of Soul Sounds. She first started singing when she was in school – Holy Family Convent, Colombo 4, as a part of the senior choir which competed at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales in 2004. The Holy Family Convent Senior Choir emerged first runners up in the Youth Choir category and this is the first time a Sri Lankan choir competed and won at an international choral competition.

An English (Hons) graduate of the University of Colombo, Lilanka works at Watawala Tea Ceylon Ltd. as a Brand Manager for Specialty Tea. Prior to this, she worked at Dilmah Tea in Brand Marketing, handling Corporate Communications. She also worked at the Centre for Policy Alternatives (a non-governmental organization) researching HIV/AIDS and trafficking of women.

Lilanka enjoys teaching and has been an assistant to Soundarie at the Soul Sounds Academy Choir since its inception. She was the conductor of the Soul Sounds Academy Choir at the Asia Pacific Choir Games in 2013 where they won Gold and again in 2017 where they won Gold for the Pop and Scenic Folklore categories. Lilanka also lectured in English Literature at the DETE Extension Courses of the University of Colombo, and taught English Literature at Bishop’s College for a short while.

A keen sportswoman, Lilanka captained the Colombo University Rowing Team. She was also on the Executive Committee of the Amateur Rowing Association of Sri Lanka (ARASL) – the national governing body for rowing in Sri Lanka. Lilanka enjoys theatre and has taken part in a few plays & musicals – her most memorable being Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar performed with the Workshop Players and directed by Jerome L. de Silva. Lilanka enjoys reading, creative writing, sports, nature, travelling, archaeology and a good laugh. She is a firm believer in the saying, ‘what is meant to be comes about of what one does’.

“Soul Sounds is a life journey as much as it is a musical one. I find solace in the soul of the music, the companionship of friends who have become more like family, and the power of a song that can resuscitate and revive the mind deadened by the stress and pressures of daily life. It’s not an easy road but the results are worth the price and the challenge is what makes life fulfilling.”