Kaladhari Bhavani from Bengaluru was chosen as the voice of the year at the eighth edition of The Hindu Friday Review- Saregama Classical M.S. Subbulakshmi Award 2019, at The Music Academy on Saturday.
The winner will get an opportunity to bring out her own album with Saregama. The event was organised as a tribute to legendary Carnatic musician M.S. Subbulakshmi and to nurture young vocalists.
Ms. Bhavani is pursuing M.Sc. Psychology. Other artistes who made it to the finals were Pranathi Ganapuram from Chennai, Shruthi Ranjani A.K. from Tiruchi, J. Sathya Sriram from Secunderabad and Ramanath U. from North Paravur, Kerala.
After their nearly half-hour-long performances, the young artistes were quizzed about a few aspects of music by the panel of judges comprising Carnatic artistes Rajkumar Bharathi, S. Rajeswari and K. Krishnakumar. Young artistes from different regions, in the 17-27 age group, were chosen for the competition.
Earlier, industrialist Nalli Kuppuswami Chetty, who presented the award, recalled M.S. Subbulakshmi and said it was a honour to be part of an event named after the iconic Carnatic singer.
Ghatam exponent Vikku T.H. Vinayakram said more such events must be organised to encourage aspiring Carnatic musicians to exhibit their talent and promote classical music.
State Bank of India’s deputy general manager Rama Prasad and Aanmajothi Trust director K.S. Natarajan spoke. L.V. Navaneeth, chief executive officer, The Hindu , was present.
The title sponsor for the event was Nalli. It was powered by State Bank of India, co-powered by Aanmajothi, cultural wing of Saraswathi Vidyalaya. The associate sponsor was Bharat Petroleum and media partner was Sankara TV.
