The Sri Shanmukhananda Chandrasekara Saraswathi Auditorium played host to the city’s connoisseurs of music on Saturday, all in attendance to witness the felicitation of sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, where he was conferred the 17th Sri Shanmukhananda National Eminence Award.

The award was presented by V. Shankar, president of Sri Shanmukhananda Sabha, and the felicitation was followed by a sarod duet by Khan’s sons and disciples Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, accompanied by Satyajit Talwalkar on the tabla.

Rahul Deshpande (Hindustani vocal), K. Gayatri (Carnatic vocal) and Sandeep Narayan (Carnatic vocal) were also conferred the Shanmukha Sangeetha Shiromani award for significant contribution to music.

Speaking on the occasion, the maestro expressed his gratitude to his family for their support. “It has been a long journey as an artiste, and I was no child prodigy. It takes great sadhna (practice) to achieve goals in life,” he said before presenting a short tarana .

Life dedicated to music

Mr. Shankar said, “Ustad ji is the foremost ambassador of Indian music today, taking his art beyond the borders of the country.” He added that Ustad Amjad Ali Khan was chosen this year for his lifetime dedication to the cause of music. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 2.5 lakh and a citation.

The writer is an intern at The Hindu

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National / by Malavika Balasubramaniam / Mumbai – December 11th, 2016