The Music Academy on Thursday announced a Special Lifetime Achievement Award to be conferred on ghatam maestro T.H. Vinayakram, fondly known as ‘Vikku’ Vinayakram. “The award does not fall under the institution’s annual recognitions and honours. It is conferred, once in a while, on artistes of outstanding calibre who, the Music Academy feels, deserve independent recognition,” said Music Academy president N. Murali.
The award function will be held on October 10. The earlier recipients were dancer Kamala Lakshminarayanan and violinist Lalgudi G. Jayaraman. “I am really happy and deem it as an award for the ghatam, a uba-pakkavadhiyam. It is a real privilege that I have been placed on a par with great dancer Kamala and Lalgudi Jayaraman,” Mr. Vinayakram told The Hindu . He said he was grateful to the Academy for organising the function on a day convenient to him. He has already received the Sangita Kala Acharya Award of the Academy.
“Hailed as the artiste who put the ghatam on the international stage, Mr. Vinayakram is one of the best known faces of percussion from South India,” Mr. Murali said.
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Mr. Vinayakram began performing at the age of 13 and went on to accompany top singers of the last generation.