Renowned Carnatic violinist A. Kanyakumari on Sunday became the first woman violinist to receive The Music Academy’s Sangita Kalanidhi award.
Presenting the award at the Sadas of the Academy, former West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan said that Carnatic music was a divine art. “It invariably triggers an emotional response. Ragas evoke moods. A Kalyani or a Panthu Varali with a proper alapana can evoke a sensation of evening, even if rendered at dawn,” he said.
Talking about the bhakthi tradition in Carnatic music, he said it conferred on it a very special quality and an exalted place in the pantheon of music systems. The music of great composers, including the trinity of Saint Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshithar and Syama Sastri, had produced emotions among listeners —varying from ecstasy to entreaty and from arrogance to complete surrender and saranagathi.
Mr. Narayanan commended The Music Academy, Madras, for being a “river of discovery, helping to spread musical diversity, and enlarge the clientèle of classical music.”
For almost a century, it has personified musical virtue. It has nurtured the Guru-Shishya paramapara so dear to Indian classical tradition. It has helped create a bond between artistes and the audience during festivals such as the Margazhi festival, he said.
He also presented the title of Sangita Kala Acharya to vocalists Rudrapatnam brothers —R.N. Thyagarajan and R. N. Tharanathan — and music teacher and musician K. Venkataramanan, who has set to music songs of Haridasa Lakshminarayanappaya.
The TTK award was presented to musician Nirmala Sundararajan, who has set to music several Divya Prabandhams and M. Kodilingam, an expert on Thevarams.
Rama Kausalya recieved the musicologist award. Violin vidwan Nagercoil V. Ganapathi was presented the Papa Venkataramaiah award.
Music Academy president N. Murali appreciated all the musicians, artistes, musicologists and scholars for providing and uplifting and enriching experience both at the concerts and during the morning academic sessions.
Senior vocalist R. Vedavalli, in her felicitations to Ms. Kanyakumari, said that even as a young violinist, she had created her own style as an accompanying artiste.
