Sangeet Kalanidhi Award presented to violinist RK Sriramkumar

Well-known Hindustani violinist N. Rajam on Thursday (January 1, 2025) advised music students to continue their practice continuously and without interruption, saying that this will open doors that they never expected.

Presenting the Sangeet Kalanidhi Award to violinist RK Sriramkumar on the occasion of the Sasad of the Music Academy in Chennai, Ms. Rajam, Emeritus Professor and former Dean of the Faculty of Performing Arts, Banaras Hindu University, said that even after more than 85 years of rigorous practice meditationShe still felt like a schoolgirl.

While presenting the award, he encouraged the audience to give a standing ovation to Sri Sriramkumar, an expert in the kirtan of Muthuswami Dikshitar.

Recalling those days, Ms. Rajam said, “Music is such a bottomless ocean – Carnatic or Hindustani, North or South. What we learn in a lifetime is just a speck of that ocean. I strongly feel that all the great musicians we meet with prodigious proficiency must have been practicing this art for many lifetimes.”

She said that she would sit in the last row of the academy and try to see and absorb the experienced musicians giving complex performances. Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi“I will run home immediately after the concert, where my father will be eagerly waiting, I will present him verbatim Pallavi line, Anulomam And pratilomamI will rest only when my father approves of what I have internalized,” she recalled,

He also appreciated the age-old service of the Sangeet Academy in the field of music as well as the music school associated with it.

Academy President N. Murali said Ms. Rajam, at Banaras Hindu University, decided to pursue Hindustani music after she first heard recordings of Pt. Omkarnath Thakur. Ms. Rajam, sister of renowned violinist TN Krishnan, later became a student of Pt. Thakur.

“Before him, the violin was not really an accompaniment instrument in Hindustani music. Moreover, the instrumentalists in that system played the accompaniment instruments in a style different from the Gaikai style adopted by Rajam. Thus he played a pioneering role in introducing the Gaikai style into the Hindustani violin,” Mr Murali said.

He also appreciated the teamwork of his colleagues, staff, volunteers and scouts who contributed to the success of the music session.

Thavil player TR Govindarajan and composer Shyamala Venkateswaran received the Sangeet Kala Acharya Award. Kathakali musician Madambi Subramaniam Namboodiri and veena player duo JT Jayaraj Krishnan and Jayashree Jayaraj Krishnan received the TTK award. The Musician’s Award was given to Professor CA Sridhar.

Prizes were given to the winners of various competitions. Academy Secretary N. Ramji expressed his gratitude.