Sangita Kalanidhi award for T.M. Krishna, Nritya Kalanidhi for Neena Prasad

The Executive Committee of the Music Academy, at its meeting on March 17, 2024, decided to confer the award on T.M. Krishna

Noted carnatic vocalist and Magsaysay award winner T.M. Krishna has been selected for the Sangita Kalanidhi award of the Music Academy for 2024.

The news about the award was conveyed to Mr. Krishna by N. Murali, president, Music Academy, when he was performing, with his wife Sangeetha and students, at the memorial of St. Thyagaraja at Thiruvaiyaru.

The Executive Committee of the Music Academy, at its meeting on March 17, 2024, decided to confer the award on him.

“He has been a top-ranking and extremely talented musician for a long time and truly deserves the award for his music. The Music Academy has thought it fit to confer on him the award on the basis of sheer excellence in music,” said Mr. Murali.

“It is very overwhelming to be chosen for the award and it is a special moment in my life,” said Mr. Krishna, who visits the memorial of Thyagaraja once in a year to perform.

Mr. Krishna, a student of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, said Sangita Kalanidhi was without doubt a very important award in the carnatic music world.

“It is also humbling because the recipients of the awardees include my teacher Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, T. Brinda, M.S. Subbulakshmi who you admire and look up to for inspiration,” said Mr. Krishna, who has penned a book on M.S. Subbulakshmi and ‘Sebastian & Sons: A Brief History of Mridangam Makers’.

He learnt from Sangita Kala Acharyas Bhagavatula Seetharama Sarma and Chengalpet Ranganathan before coming under the tutelage of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.

“Known for his powerful voice and his adherence to tradition when it comes to the art, he has experimented widely with its format. He has also worked towards expanding the listener base of the art by taking it to varied social settings and focusing on its exploratory as opposed to tightly defined structures. He has used music as a tool for social reform,” a press release from the Academy said.

A writer, who has penned analytical books on music to his credit, Mr. Krishna has received several awards for his music, his writings and his championing of social causes.

The Sangita Kala Acharya awards will be presented to mridhangam player Parasala Ravi (V. Raveendran Nair) and vocalist Geetha Raja.

TTK Awards will go to Thiruvaiyyaru Brothers S. Narasimhan and S. Venkatesan, who are from a musical lineage that stretches back to Tyagaraja. Another artiste who will get the award is violinist H.K. Narasimhamurthy. The Musicologist Award will be given to Dr. Margaret Bastin.

This year’s Nritya Kalanidhi award will be presented to Dr. Neena Prasad.

She had her training in Mohiniyattam from Kalamandalam Kshemavati and Kalamandalam Sugandhi. She learnt Bharata Natyam from Sangita Kala Acharya Adyar K.

Lakshmanan, Kuchipudi from Vempati Chinna Satyam and Kathakali from Vembayam Appukuttan Pillai. She obtained her Ph.D. from Rabindra Bharathi University for her thesis on Lasya and Thandava in South Indian classical dances. She was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship from the University of Surrey.

The Sangita Kalanidhi awardee will preside over the academic sessions of the 98th Annual Conference and Concerts of The Music Academy to be held between December 15, 2024 and January 1, 2025, and will receive the award, together with those selected for the Sangita Kala Acharya, the TTK and the Musicologist awards at the Sadas on January 1, 2025.

The Nritya Kalanidhi awardee will receive the award at the inauguration of The Music Academy’s 18th Annual Dance Festival on January 3, 2025.