Carnatic exponent honoured

Carnatic exponent and musicologist Prince Rama Varma was conferred Sangeetha Kala Sagara title by the Visakha Music Academy here on Wednesday. The title was conferred on the member of the royal family of Travancore and a direct descendant of Maharaja Swati Tirunal and Raja Ravi Varma at the ongoing 46th Annual Festival of Music and Dance at Kalabharati here.

Playwright and actor Gollapudi Maruti Rao, academy’s chief patron and philanthropist S. Vijayakumar, academy’s president S.V. Rangarajan and secretary M.S. Srinivas conferred the award and felicitated the artiste. Mridangam artiste V.V. Ramanamurthy and Veena artiste R Madhuri Devi also honoured Prince Rama Varma.

Born and brought up in conducive ambiance for classical music, Prince Rama Varma had his initial instruction in music from Prof. Vechoor Hariharasubramania Iyer and later honed his skills under the tutelage of maestro Mangalampalli Bala Murali Krishna. Also, he is a proficient in Veena.

Academy presented its outstanding service award to Pattisapu B. Subrahmanyam (Babloo) and warmly felicitated him.

Also, academy presented its young talent awards to a host of artistes of promise.

Ayyagari Bhujangarao, K.V. Rama Murthy, V.S.N. Murthy, Sripada Venkanna, Kanakadandi Kondalaryudu, Vaddiparthi Narasayya, B.N. Murthy, V. Chandrasekhar and V. Ch. Krishna Rao took part in the programme. Later, Prince Rama Varma enthralled the music lovers with his concert.