V.S. Sampathkumar Acharya, an eminent music scholar from Mysore, also passed away on July 5.
Acharya, who was born at Venkatachatra village in Chamarajanagar district in 1925, did his B.A. from the Maharaja’s College, M.A. from the Banaras Hindu University and B.Ed. and Ph.D. from the University of Mysore.
Though he started his career as a teacher in Tamil Nadu, Dr. Acharya retired from service in Karnataka in 1981 after working in high schools and PU colleges. He has written a number of articles on music and was the recipient of many awards.
Dr. Acharya was presented the Rajya Sangeetha Vidwan award by the Department of Kannada and Culture during the Dasara celebrations here last year. Prof. S.K. Ramachandra Rao and Sangita Kalanidhi R.K. Srikantan were dear friends of Dr. Acharya. He had contributed valuable articles to Sangit Mahabharati’s “The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Music India” edited by Pt. Nikhil Ghosh.Dr. Acharya was a regular contributor to Sruti , India’s premier magazine for the performing arts.
He was on the panel of reviewers for “Sapthagiri” magazine of TTD for more than two decades.
Dr. Acharya was a friend, philosopher and guide to noted musicians such as Padmacharan, R. K. Padmanabha (Bangalore), Dr. C. A. Sridhar, Pt. Nagaraj Havaldar and Dr. Vijayaraghavan. He was regularly consulted by critics and journalists.