The prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi honours artistes below the age of 35 years, to give them national recognition early in their lives and encourage young talents in diverse fields. The Puraskar was introduced in 2006 and carries a cash prize of Rs 25,000. The winners for 2009 were recently announced (July 2010) by the Akademi and we are proud to announce that winner selected in the field of music (Hindustani Vocal) is ITC SRA's past scholar, Omkar Shrikant Dadarkar.

Deborshee Bhattacharjee has been awarded the Jnana Pravaha Scholarship in Hindustani classical vocal music from Pandit Vijay Kumar Kichlu’s Sangeet Ashram. He received his award from the Governor of West Bengal, the Honourable Governor of West Bengal, Shri M K Narayanan on 13th May 2010 at a function held at the G D Birla Sabhagar, Kolkata

ITC SRA Scholar, Arshad Ali Khan was awarded the Bharatiya Sanskriti Samsad Best Vocalist Award on May 9, 2010. The ceremony took place at the Samsad Sabhaghar, Kolkata. At the concert held after the ceremony, Arshad performed Raga Marwa and Shahana. He was accompanied by Gopal Mishra on tabla and Sarwar Hussain on sarangi. Congratulations Arshad!

On March 31, 2010, ITC-SRA Guru Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar was awarded the 2010 Padma Shri Awards (for Arts) by the Government of India, in recognition of his exceptional and distinguished contribution to the field of Hindustani Classical Music. The award was presented to him by the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil..

Our academy is proud and honoured that in two years in a row, two of our senior gurus have been awarded the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Purashkar , the highest national honour conferred on practising artists, gurus and scholars. For 2008, it was Pt Ulhas Kashalkar and this year, for 2009, the oldest guru in our Academy, Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan will be the proud recipient. The other awardees for Hindustani Music are Vasundhara Komkali (vocal), Lachman Singh Seen (tabla) and Ali Ahmad Hussain (shehnai). For carnatic music, the awardees are Parassala B Ponnammal (vocal), Dandamudi Sumathi Rama Mohan Rao (mridangam) and U Srinivas (mandolin).

The Sangeet Natak Ratna Purashkar (fellowships) for 2009 have been awarded to Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, Pandit Jasraj, Kishori Amonkar and danseuse, Yamini Krishnamurti.

ITC SRA Guru, Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta has been conferred with the Degree of D.Sc (Honoris Causa) by the Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, in recognition of his brilliant contributions in the field of Science, Technology and Fine Arts in India. Pandit Dasgupta received the degree at the University's 12th convocation held on February 16, 2010.

ITC SRA Scholar, Mallar Rakshit has been awarded the 2nd prize in Sarod in the All India Radio Music Competition, 2009. This now makes him a B graded artiste. Congratulations, Mallar!

Recently, Abhijit Apastambh, a Scholar of our Academy made us proud by standing first class first in MA music, (vocal) from RTM Nagpur University. He received 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal and a cash prize from His Excellency Mr S.C.Jamir, Governor of Maharashtra at the 96th convocation ceremony of the University on 25th July 2009. Abhiit was initiated into music by his father Ratnakar Apastambh and after learning at his hometown Nanded (Maharashtra) and Mumbai, he joined the Academy in September 2008 as a scholar under Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.

   Abhijit Apastambh

On 23rd June 2009, Saket Sahu, who joined the Academy as a scholar in May 2009 to learn the Gayaki ang in violin from Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty, was awarded the title KAL KE KALAKAR by Abhinav Kala Parishad, Bhopal(MP) at its 39th Yuva Khoj Samaroh. The award ceremony was followed by Saket’s recital in Raga Bihag.

The month of July saw Saket adding another feather to his cap when he stood first in M.A Music (Violin) at Indra Kala Music University, Khairagarh (MP).

   Saket Sahu

On February 7th 2009, scholar Sucheta Ganguly received a gold medal from Mrs Pratibha Patil, President of India for standing first in B.A. (Music) at SNDT Women’s University, Pune. Sucheta impressed everyone with her brilliant performance during her vocal examination. Initiated into the world of Hindustani music by her father, Bhajan Krishna Ganguly, at the age of seven, she subsequently joined the Academy as a general class student in 2000 and qualified as a scholar in 2003. She is guru Arun Bhaduri’s shishya.

   Sucheta Ganguly

Our academy is proud and honoured that one of its senior gurus, Pt Ulhas Kashalkar has been awarded the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar, the highest national honour conferred on practising artists, gurus and scholars, for the year 2008. This award was presented to Ulhasji for his contribution to Hindustani Classical vocal music by the President of India, Smt Pratibha Patil, on the 14thof July, 2009 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The other awardees for Hindustani Music are Pandit M R Gautam (vocal), Ramesh Mishra - Hindustani Instrumental (Sarangi) and Krishna Ram Chaudhary - Hindustani Instrumental (Shehnai). The Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office, Prithviraj Chavan and the Akademi Chairman, Ram Niwas Mirdha, were present at the occasion along with other eminent personalities and previous awardees. Ulhasji and a few other awardees were also specially invited by the Sangeet Natak Akademi to perform after the award ceremony.
 

 

Ulhasji receving the Sangeet Natak Academy award

The ITC-SRA Western Region Awards for 2008 were distributed by Mr Hans Ramakar, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mumbai, on January 10, 2009, during the Seminar ‘Reconsidering Fundamental Issues in Art Music’ held at NCPA, Mumbai. Senior musicians Dinkar Panshikar and Suresh Talwalkar were presented the ITC Sangeet Research Academy awards for their dedicated service to music.

 Pandit Dinkar Panshikar

Dinkar Panshikar hails from an illustrious family of Sanskrit scholars of national repute, though he chose a career in music. With a scholarship from Mumbai University, he started training from Pandit Nivruttibua Sarnaik, a direct disciple of Sawai Gandharva and Ustad Alladiya Khan of Kirana and Jaipur traditions respectively, continuing the tutelage with Nivruttibua with a scholarship from the ITC Sangeet Research Academy. Later, he refined and nurtured his music under the able guidance of Pandit Gajananbua Joshi and Pandit Manikrao Thakurdas. A top grade artiste of All India Radio, Dinkarji is regarded as one of the finest exponents of the Jaipur and Kirana gharana and has performed in major cultural venues in India and overseas. A visiting Professor of the Universities of Dharwad and Khairagarh, he has several commercial releases to his credit. A book and CD with 80 compositions will be released soon.
 

 

Pandit Suresh Talwalkar

Hailing from an illustrious family of famous kirtankar Dholebua, Suresh Talwalkar was initiated at a very young age by his father, Shri Dattatrey Talwalkar, himself a noted pakhawaj player. Later, Sureshji was trained by veterans like Pandit Pandharinath Nageshkar and Pandit Vinayakrao Ghangrekar. Besides this, he also received training in layashastra from Pandit Ramnad Ishwaran, a renowned mridangam player and vidwan from South India. This diverse training enabled him to imbibe the intricacies of both North and South Indian music. Since a very young age Sureshji had the privilege of accompanying some of the great vocalists, instrumentalists and dancers. Through numerous commercial albums, public performances and lecture-demonstrations, Sureshji is well known all over India and overseas. Besides this he has also coordinated and conceptualized seminars and music discussions organized by eminent institutions. His unique contribution is the introduction of vocal accompaniment to tabla solo which has given a new dimension and direction to tabla. An innovative and creative composer, he is also a revered and passionate guru. A recipient of numerous awards including the Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Award and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, he has also been conferred titles including Taal Yogi by His Holiness Shankaracharya.
 

Kumari Noopur A. Kashid

Ganesh Papal

The awards for promising artistes went to selected prizewinners of the 2008 Music competition organised by All India Radio. The winner for Hindustani Music (Vocal – Khayal) Noopur Avinash Kashid is a disciple of Pandit Madhukar Joshi. She has won several other accolades including the Pandit V D Paluskar Award and the Late Kamal Tambe Scholarship. Ganesh Bhivdas Papal received the award for Hindustani Music (Instruments – Percussion Pakhawaj). He has had training in both tabla and Pakhawaj from several teachers like Mridangacaharya Tukaramji Bhumkar, Shri Dattatray Chorge, Shri Ramdas Palsule and Dr. Vinod Deulkar. The winner for Carnatic Music (Vocal), S. Sriranjani, is the daughter and disciple of the renowned vocalist Neyveli R. Santhangopalan. As a prodigy she has won many accolades since the age of 4 and has an equally impressive academic record. Mailai R. Mahendran received the award for Carnatic Music – Instrumental (Nagaswaram). An accomplished Nagaswaram player who has played for various prestigious venues including the Thiruvaiyaru Festival, he also has a commercial album to his credit.

Mailai R.Mahendran