Shiv-Hari, the music director duo of Santoor player Shivkumar Sharma and flute maestro Hariprasad Chaurasia, have been chosen for this year’s Swaralaya Devarajan National Award for their contribution to the field of classical music.
Veteran playback singer L.R. Eswari is the recipient of the Swaralaya KPAC Sulochana Award, instituted to recognise the contribution of female artistes.
The winners were announced at a press meet held by former Cultural Affairs Minister M.A. Baby, who chaired the award jury this year.
Shiv-Hari will be presented with Rs.75,000 and a plaque, and Ms. Eswari will receive Rs.50,000 during an award ceremony in the capital city in January.
The award jury comprised Carnatic vocalist and music teacher K. Omanakutty, poet Prabha Varma, journalist and music critic Ravi Menon, and G. Sankar.
Composer and singer M. Jayachandran, who was present at the press conference, spoke of the commitment to classical music shown by Mr. Sharma and Mr. Chaurasia in their individual capacities and in collaboration with each other.
The fine work they had done over the decades they had been performing professionally consistently held on to the classical traditions even when they composed scores for Hindi films, he said.
The stunning repertoire of Lourde-Mary Rajeswari Eswari was also lauded. The singer is renowned for showcasing her vocal abilities in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, and English. From traditional songs to more upbeat film music, Ms. Eswari has made her mark in various genres, a press release from Swaralaya said. She has also produced several records of devotional music.
Swaralaya cultural organisation’s Kerala chapter chairman G. Rajmohan, general secretary E.M. Najeeb, and treasurer Thomas Phillip were present.
