The Music Academy, Madras, will present the Sangita Kala Acharya awards to vocalists Neela Ramgopal and Rama Ravi during its 85th annual conference. The TTK Awards will be presented to Mayavaram Somasundaram (kanjira) and T.R. Navaneetham (flute). The Papa Venkataramaiah Award for violin will be given to Trivandrum Subramanya Sarma, said N. Murali, president, Music Academy.
In a release, he said the executive committee of the Academy had unanimously chosen Mridangam maestro Professor Trichy Sankaran to preside over the 85th annual conference of the Academy, to be held from December 15, 2011 to January 1, 2012. These awards will be conferred at the Sadas on January 1. The newly instituted Natya Kala Acharya Award for dance will be given to Bharatanatyam exponent Padma Subramaniam at the inauguration of the dance festival on January 3, 2012.