Music Academy honours Kanyakumari

A. Kanyakumari, violinist, (second from right) receives the Sangita Kalanidhi award from Nirmala Sitharaman during the 90th Annual Music Conference at the Music Academy in Chennai on Thursday. Also seen (from left) are Sanjay Subrahmanyan, N. Murali, president, Music Academy, and Sudha Raghunathan. — Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday paid encomiums to Tamil Nadu’s culture of encouraging and appreciating excellence, particularly in classical music. She also said language had never been a barrier for this.

Speaking at the inauguration of The Music Academy’s 90th annual conference and concerts here, she narrated well-known stories from the lives of three great persons — saint-composer Tyagaraja, composer Gopalakrishna Bharathi and ‘Tamizh Thatha’ U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer — which showed that music was all inclusive. Ms. Sitharaman said no other music festival could be likened to the city’s Margazhi season in which over 1,500 concerts happen within 15 days.

She presented the prestigious Sangita Kalanidhi M.S. Subbulakshmi Award instituted by

The Hindu to Carnatic violinist A. Kanyakumari, this year’s Sangitha Kalanidhi-elect of The Music Academy. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh and a memento. The Minister released the Academy’s publication,

Raga Nidhi (volume 2), a journal and a souvenir. The first copies of which were received by Ms. Kanyakumari, Carnatic vocalists Sudha Raghunathan and Sanjay Subrahmanyan respectively.

N. Murali, president, The Music Academy, said: “Our Carnatic musicians, young and established alike, take our music to different parts of the world, where people appreciate its greatness. They play a vital role in this global awareness and transmission of our precious heritage and art.”

Jayalalithaa remembered

This year’s music festival, he said, had begun close on the trail of a devastating cyclone and under the shadow of the demise of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

“Having been an accomplished artiste in her earlier years, she continued to remain an ardent connoisseur and supporter of the performing arts. The Music Academy enjoyed a special place in her heart and she inaugurated two of its annual music festivals — in 1991 and 2012,” he said.