PROCEEDINGS OF THE AWARDS CEREMONY at the 2023 “Mani & MK Award for Lifetime Achievement” held on the evening of 12 July 2023 (Mani Krishnaswami commemorative day) at Sunaadalahari Auditorium, Chennai.
WELCOME ADDRESS by M.K.Sudarshan Managing Trustee, Smt. Mani Krishnaswami Foundation, Chennai _____________________________________________________
The memory of Sangitha Kalanidhi Dr. Smt. Mani Krishnaswami is alive even today in the hearts of many of her rasikas, vidwans, family, friends and admirers. That memory is alive because of two reasons. The first reason is her Music recordings. Hundreds of people still listen to them and are enthralled.
The second reason is my father, Sri M. Krishnaswami. It was he who established the Smt. Mani Krishnaswami Foundation in Chennai in the year 2006 after she passed away in 2002 on this very day. The Foundation today commemorates Mani Krishnaswami as a person and musician every year by celebrating the accomplishments of both senior Carnatic musicians and young musicians today. And that is being done by the Foundation recognizing them through 2 awards:
- the Annual Mani & MK Award for Lifetime Achievement and
- the Mani & MK for Outstanding Young Talent in Carnatic Music.
Through these two Annual Awards, the memory of Smt. Mani Krishnaswami remains unfaded in the world of Carnatic Music. On behalf of all the Trustees of the Foundation, I wish all vidwans and rasikas gathered here this this evening a very warm welcome to the occasion! In spite of today being a weekday, you have all turned up here. It shows your affection for the memory and music of Smt. Mani Krishnaswami. Thank You one and all!
Due to the Covid pandemic during the last three years, the Foundation was unable to hold this annual Award event in the usual way. The last three years, the entire world has been greatly distressed. Nearly 10 million people died of Covid. The Foundation was also distressed. It witnessed the departure of three of its founding trustees – Sangitha Kalanidhi T.N.Krishnan, Smt. Prema Srinivasan and Smt. Kamala Kasturi – all of whom were very beloved friends of my parents, Mani and MK. The Foundation expresses its deep condolences to their respective families.
The Foundation today now has a reconstituted Board of Trustees. The members are:
Sarva Sri. T.K.Seshadri, senior advocate of the Madras High Court,R.S.Giridhar, Vice-President, TCS Ltd,Ms.Harini Aaron, Saishreyas Srinivas of L&T Mindtree and myself.
The new Trustees of the Foundation are so happy today that after a lapse of three years, the Foundation is once again reviving the Mani & MK Annual Award event in a very special and significant way and today is honoring distinguished Vidushi. Smt Sunganda Kalamegam about whom much will be spoken about by way of felicitation by 4 eminent guests who are here with us today on stage.
Firstly, Sangitha KalacharyaSmt. Suguna Varadachari. Next, our distinguished guest from Cleveland, USA, Sri. Sundaram. We also have with us today Sri R.K.Sriramkumar who I know was a favorite of TNK Mama. And we have with us also Sri. Nithyanand Rao from Mangalore. To all of them I wish to extend a very warm welcome and offer them the Foundation’s token of appreciation! I request our Founding Trustee, Sri. T.K.Seshadri to please do the honours to them.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this year the Trustees of the Mani Krishnaswami Foundation are instituting a new Annual Award for Excellence in memory of my beloved parents. This Award is not for individuals but is going to be in recognition of the outstanding contributions made in the support and sustainability of Carnatic Music and allied classical arts by small institutions such as Sabhas, music-learning centers and music research institutions not only here in the city of Chennai but also in other smaller cities and towns in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra, Telengana and Kerala.
What has inspired this idea of Awarding these institutions is the memory of my father Sri. M.Krishnaswami who for more than 4 decades successfully held the stewardship of the Sri Thyagaraja Trust in Tirupati. His yeomen service to his Sabha in his native Tirupati put the temple-town firmly on the map of the Carnatic Music world.
This year being the inaugural year of it getting instituted, the Foundation has chosen to give this new Award to three outstanding Sabhas that will be honored later in this program by Sri Cleveland Sundaram who is himself an extraordinary Sabha man. In faraway Cleveland in America, Sri Sundaram, as we all know, has built an institution that is indeed the pride of Carnatic Music in the western hemisphere. The Mani Krishnaswami Foundation believes that he is therefore the fittest person therefore to be conferring its new institutional Awards on the three Sabhas today this evening.
I conclude by humbly requesting Smt. Sugandha Kalamegam to continue nurturing and mentoring at least a few dozen more young sishyas and the three Sabhas to continue fostering and championing a hundred more initiatives and programs promoting the cause of Carnatic music.
Thank You and Namaskaaram.
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“Mani & MK” ANNUAL AWARD 2023 FOR LIFETIME ACCOMPLISHMENT IN CLASSICAL FINE ARTS
Presented to Smt. Sugandha Kalamegam
Known for her extraordinary musical acumen, classical purity, and virtuosity combined with aesthetics, Smt. Sugandha Kalamegham has been a much sought after performer in Carnatic music for several decades.
She began her training at the age of 13, under Shri. Kadayam Krishnamurthy and Shri. Gopala Iyer, and then rose rapidly in her career to win the first prize in the national All India Radio competition in 1972. She won Senior Fellow Government of India Scholarship, New Delhi, during 1972-74 to pursue music under the tutelage of Sri. Madirimangalam Ramachandran. In 1974, when she was invited to perform at the Madras Music Academy, her singing won acclaim for its high quality of classicism.
Critics and connoisseurs have hailed her voice as being marked by depth, perfect sruti alignment and meticulous attention to sahitya. With methodical planning for every single concert performance, she always strikes the right balance between technical perfection, melodic beauty and rasika engagement.
Smt. Kalamegham continued to learn from the erudite gurus, Vidwan Sri Sandhyavandhanam Srinivasa Rao and Sangeetha Kalanidhi TK Govinda Rao (of the Musiri Subramania Iyerbaani) and also from the veena maestro, Trivandrum Venkataraman. She has also formally learned Hindustani classical music at the world renowned “Gandharva Maha Vidhyalaya” in New Delhi. Smt. Kalamegham since 1993 has been Top-grade Artiste at the All India Radio (AIR) and has performed extensively on National Programs of Music in AIR and Doordarshan TV. Her performances have been featured on several other television channels too. She has recorded for HMV and INRECO among other commercial labels. She has also performed several concerts in the UK, France and USA.
Today, under her rigorous training many of her young sishyas have become graded performing artistes. Smt. Sugandha Kalamegam was a Member of the Cultural Committee of the 12th Planning Commission, Government of India (2001-02), and was recently appointed to the Senate of the Music Department of Annamalai University in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu. In 2013, she was awarded the prestigious “Kalaimamani Award” by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
The Board of Trustees of Dr (Mrs.) Mani Krishnaswami Foundation, on this 12th day of July 2023, is proud to recognize Smt. Sugandha Kalamegam as one of the best exponents and truest ambassadors of the classical fine arts of India.
SUNAADALAHARI
Sunaadalahari, musical wing of Indira Ranganathan Trust is a charitable organisation with a mission to promote art forms and its artists. Our trust offers support to upcoming artists with creative performing opportunities and our rasikas experience a musical escape of enjoying Carnatic music in the natural setting of our garden Amphitheatre.
Our focus lies on the upbringing of talented artists and providing them meaningful opportunities to showcase their talent in the field of Carnatic music. We have organised100+ Concerts, Workshops, Pallavi Utsavam, Yuva Series (to promote young and upcoming artists), Navarathri Suprabhatha Sangeetham Series, LecDems (Lecture Demonstration), December Margazhi Season Festival, monthly concerts and much more!
The trust is also deeply rooted to serving the community around us with music. Our mission extends beyond concerts and helps nurture Carnatic music knowledge for those curious and passionate to learn this great Indian Art Form. Sunaadalahari School of Music offers Veena classes, Carnatic vocal classes, Scholarship and other donations for upcoming musicians. We also offer Regular Scholarships to support the education of children in need, Annadanams (food donation) and other disaster relief support.
MADHURADHWANI
Madhuradhwani had its inauguration on 26th Oct 2012. Madhuradhwani was established with the objective of catering to cultural appetite of the music-loving rasikas of Chennai, for classical music and related performing arts.
Madhuradhwani events are staged at the ARKAY CONVENTION Centre in Luz, Mylapore, Chennai, its own auditorium situated in the heart of the city.
Madhuradhwani has carved for itself a niche in the world of Carnatic music as a very committed organization and has been applauded for conducting yearlong kutcheris and other very lively programs, seminars and symposiums. It provides a platform for not only front-line musicians and senior artistes but also to young and upcoming musicians. Madhuradhwani gives equal importance to instrumental music too. Thematic concerts and lecture demonstrations are held in its monthly schedule.
Madhuradhwani has also taken the advantage of using the technology to web cast most of its programs all across the country and the world thus bringing together rasikas from all over the globe to enjoy the live experience.
Music is a part of everyday life not only for Vidwans but also for genuine Rasikas. Thus, realizing this fact, Madhuradhwani during the difficult pandemic period for both artistes and audiences, it started relaying recordings of old concerts from April 2020 onward until August. Then when Govt. relaxed the regulations a bit, it started staging and recording live-concerts held in the daytime me and webcasting them in the evening.
Nearly 70 plus such concerts were organized which greatly supported the artists, both young and seniors. In the last eleven years since its inception,
Madhuradhwani has conducted more than 2500 programs and hopes to continue to serve the Carnatic Music world with zeal and enthusiasm in years to come.
MANI KRISHNASWAMI ACADEMY, MANGALORE
Mani Krishnaswami Academy was established on 7-11-2004 in Mangalore.
The organization has been since then receving appreciation from several Vidwans and Vidushis, Rasikas and Music Patrons for its immense contribution in promoting Music through various activities, related to Indian Classical Music especially in coastal Karnataka.
The Academy achieved global recogntion during Covid pandemic years i.e in 2020-22. The Academy organized Facebook Concerts from April 4th,2020 onwards to sustain kutcheri performance of young musicians and instrumentalists. The music world both in India and abroad applauded the Academy for organizing more than 800 Concerts during the short span of 2 Years during the pandemic when all artistic activity came to a standstill. Facebook concert-series however gave young talented artists tremendous hope of connecting with the audiences all over the world. The number of Rasikas for these concerts crossed 50,000. It was historic Facebook phenomenon.
The Mani Krishnaswami Academy total remuneration to all artistes during the pandemic years amounted to Rs. 18 lakhs. So far, the Academy has organized more than 1000 Facebook Concerts thanks to the technical team headed by Sri Vibhu Rao.
The Academy’s success is all because of the blessings of Sangitha Kalanidhi Dr.Smt. Mani Krishnaswami Amma and her husband Sri.M Krishnaswami’s blessings.
The Academy is today being also supported also by Parama poojya Rajarshi Dr D Veerendra Heggade , Dharmadhikari of Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala, Shree Shree Vishwaprasanna Teertha Swamiji of Shree Pejavara Mutt, Udupi and other reputed charitable Organisations and Institutions in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu state. .
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