The Nritya Kalanidhi awardees are Rama Vaidhyanathan (2020), Narthaki Nataraj (2021) and Bragha Bessell (2022).
The Music Academy today announced its prestigious Sangita Kalanidhi award winners for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. Renowned vocalist and guru Neyveli R. Santhanagopalan has been selected for the award for 2020 while veteran mridangam guru Tiruvarur Baktavatsalam for 2021 and violin maestros Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and his sister GJR Vijayalakshmi for 2022.
Sangita Kala Acharya award for 2020 goes to noted Nagaswaram vidwan Kizhvelur G. Ganesan while musicologist and guru Ritha Rajan is selected for the year 2021 and musician R.S. Jayalakshmi for 2022.
Noted vocalist Thamarakkad Govindan Namboothiri will receive the TTK award for 2020 while Mridhangam and jalatarangam player Nemani Somayajulu will get the award for 2021 and kanjira artist A.V. Anand for 2022. Musicologist award for 2022 goes to V. Premalatha.
Renowned Bharatanatyam dancer Rama Vaidhyanathan is selected for the Nritya Kalanidhi for 2020 while bharatanatyam artist Narthaki Nataraj is selected for the year 2021. Bharatanatyam guru Bragha Bessell will receive the award for 2022.
For the past two years, the academy conducted its annual music festival online due to Covid 19 pandemic.
“The executive committee of the Music Academy has decided to give the Sangita Kalanidhi and other awards for the two missed years along with the current year’s awards,” said N. Murali, president of the Academy in a press release. 96th annual conference and concerts of the Academy will start on December 15, 2022.
