M.S. Subbulakshmi fellowships for 50 musicians

Fifty young and promising musicians from all over India were on Saturday presented the "Sri Shanmukhananda Bharat Ratna Dr. M. S. Subbulakshmi Fellowship in Music" as part of the birth ongoing centenary celebrations of the legendary singer.

Maharashtra Governor C. V. Rao presented the fellowships at the Shanmukhanda Hall to the young exponents in Carnatic vocal, Hindustani vocal, mridungam, kanjira, ghatam, harikatha, nadaswaram, veena, flute and violin.

The fellows selected for the Rs 100,000 grant for three years each, hail from Amritsar, Belgaum, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kerala, Mumbai, Pune and Thane, said Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetha Sabha President V. Shankar.

The first-time awardees include Suleiman, the 13-year old bansuri (flute) prodigy from Amritsar who has made waves on the country's music scene, Aditya Apte (Sarod) and Deepika Bhide-Bhagwat (Hindustani vocal), both hailing from Thane.

The others include 23 from Tamil Nadu, seven from Mumbai, five from Bengaluru and rest from other parts of the country, Shankar said.

The function ended with a special concert presented by the Sabha music students, entitled "Endrum Amma" on Subbulakshmi, whose 101st birth anniversary was also celebrated.

--IANS

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