Ghatam maestro Suresh Vaidyanathan was conferred with the title ‘Distinguished Differently Abled Artiste’ at the Parallel Music Fest on Sunday.
At the 12th edition of the Vodafone-Rotary Club Fest, the title of ‘Promising Differently Abled Artiste’ was conferred on Carnatic vocalist R. Jaishankar.
Violinist Kanyakumari inaugurated the festival and N. Murali, co-chairman, Kasturi and Sons Limited and president, Music Academy, was the chief guest.
“Participating in this event has been one of the most fulfilling experiences for the last 12 years,” Mr. Murali said. “The unique ability and point that this club specialises in by bringing in disabled artistes to the mainstream is commendable. If given opportunity and included in the mainstream like the rest, we will get to see more people like Suresh,” he said.
In his felicitations, vocalist T.V. Gopalakrishnan said, “Suresh was around 10 years old when his father brought him to me as a disciple. He was a child prodigy and would play along with senior artistes.”
Suresh Vaidyanthan spoke about how it was necessary to make the disabled feel inclusive in society. “Inclusivity is one of the solutions to remove hurdles faced by the disabled. I am honoured to be given this award,” he said.
The event was followed by performances by violinist Kanyakumari, pianist Anil Srinivasan and mridangam exponent Patri Satishkumar.
