Chennai, Oct 05: Carnatic Music was safe in the hands of talented young children and interest in rich classical art and culture could continue to be sustained and promoted by them and institutions encouraging them, noted singer Dr. N. Vijay Siva said on Sunday.
Speaking after handing over prizes to winners of the Annual Music Competition organised by Indian Fine Arts Society, at Ethiraja Kalyana Nilayam on TTK Road, Alwarpet, Dr. Siva said lauded the management of IFAS for organising this every year. "Conducting such competitions for students is not easy and involved a lot of volunteers, registration, and hard work and coordination. In the 80's I took part in this competition and never then did i even imagine that one day I would be distributing the prizes.
"More than participation and prizes, you must remember that the friendship that you cultivate with other competing children is forever and you must cherish it all your life. Some people along whom I competed like Neyveli Santhanagopalan or Sanjay Subramanyam are some with whom my friendship started long back. You must also remember that you should always stand firmly rooted in the essence of Indian culture," Dr. Siva said.
In his welcome address, Mr. K.V. Ramachandran, President, congratulated the proud winners also praised parents for encouraging their children to pursue classical music. Mr. K. Venkatrangam, Vice President, thanked the gathering. Dr. R. Radhakrishnan, Honorary Secretary of the 93-year-old Sabha and among the oldest in Chennai, also spoke.
After registration and preliminary rounds, the main competition was held, and the winners in various categories were selected by an eminent jury comprising veteran musicians. On Sunday, there was a concert featuring Muthuswami Dikshithar Krithis with Srijith Poosarla on the mandolin, Shreeya Ananth on violin, Anghiras Mahadevan on mridangam, and Shrinidhi Raghunandan on kanjira.
Later in the evening, there was a concert by Dr. Nithyashree on veena, Poongulam Balasubramanian on mridangam, and B. S. Purushothaman on kanjira. Over 75 participants competed in two age groups: junior, and senior on September 19. The first prize winners in Thyagarajar and Muthuswami Dikshithar krithis categories received Thanjavur Tamburas. Over 20 children received prizes.
On Friday, October 2, there were concerts of GNB Krithis, Swathi Thirunal Krithis, and Papanasam Sivan Krithis. On Saturday, October 3, there were concerts of Sri Shyama Sastri Krithis, Sri Annamacharya Krithis, and Sri Purandarasar Krithis.
