The National Indian Arts Awards 2018 Thursday 14 June 2018 Southbank Centre, London
Presented by
The Indian Arts Development Trust Uniting Hearts through Arts
Principle Partner
ABOUT MILAPFEST Milapfest is Britain’s leading Indian arts development trust, producing world class performances, education and artist development opportunities across the UK. Milapfest’s aim is to “Unite Hearts Through Arts” by providing audiences, aspiring artists and teachers with memorable and inspirational experiences of Indian arts through a dynamic programme of performances, tours, commissions, festivals and innovative educational projects. In recent years our educational projects have multiplied considerably, and our aim has been to interconnect all our projects so that the maximum possible impact is made to the lives of our audiences and participants. In recent years, the Trust has created international partnerships and projects to further strengthen and widen our work, resulting in some exciting cross-cultural collaborations. Our principal work includes the three city Indian Music concert series “Music for the Mind and Soul”, Samyo (the National Youth Orchestra for Indian Music), Sabrang (the National Choir for Indian Music) and Tarang (the National Indian Music Ensemble), as well as training and career development opportunities for all ages of music and dance practitioners of Britain. In 2014, we established SANNIDHI (the Milapfest Institute of Indian Arts) at the Liverpool Hope University. Sannidhi features a comprehensive library of books, CDs and DVDs on Indian music and dance, as well as a unique digital archive of live concerts and performances from the personal collection of a well-known Chennai philanthropist that can be accessed on touch screen computers in a beautiful University Reading Room. It is the only archive of its kind in Europe, and it is continually growing. In the exciting and challenging task of building and strengthening today’s multicultural Britain, our committed endeavour is to try and unite the hearts and minds of all our communities through an exhilarating celebration of arts and culture. It is an exciting journey and we invite you to join us along the way!
Swagatam! Milapfest is delighted and proud to welcome you to the 4th National Indian Arts Awards ceremony. This year, the number of awards being made have increased to cover broader areas of sterling achievements within our Arts Sector. We are very happy have continued support from the Arts Council England as well as the High Commission of India. We have also moved to the Southbank Centre this year as part of the expansion of the Awards programme. We are delighted to once again welcome our regular media partner in the Asian Voice & the ABPL Group of companies. They have very generously supported two National Arts Awards beginning this year. As a senior, inspirational Journalistic pioneer, we are delighted to welcome their Chairman, Mr C.B.Patel, to the ceremony today. We are particularly honoured to welcome Sir Nicholas Serota, the Chairman of the Arts Council England to the awards tonight. With his distinguished record as a leader of the arts in the UK, and as the former director of the Tate Modern, his presence is a real source of inspiration to us all. We are also pleased to welcome His Excellence Shri Y K Sinha, the Indian High Commissioner to United Kingdom, who has kindly agreed to be our Chief Guest of Honour tonight. We are also truly delighted to welcome Lord Jitesh Gadhia, a young and dynamic member of the House of Lords, and a very well respected community leader. Their presence amongst us is truly important and significant at the ceremony that recognises and honours the talented arts people present here. As always, this year’s awardees were chosen by a nationally constituted jury of six members. The jury have had a tough time deciding the winners from an extremely talented and deserving group of amazing arts professionals. This year sees the institution of two new international arts awards and the expansion of the Acharya Ratna category to include different art forms within the Hindustani, as well as Carnatic, styles. The award winners in these categories represent the finest traditions of teaching and performance of Indian Arts. All in all, the distinguished list of this year’s awardees reads like a roll call of honour for Indian Arts in England. It is with great pleasure that we welcome Smt. Priyadarsini Govind, a very distinguished international dance artist, choreographer and a much revered teacher as the first winner of the Vishwa Kala Ratna Award for Indian Classical Dance, conferred in 2016. She is joined by this year’s recipient of the Vishwa Kala Ratna Award by another distinguished and much loved musician, Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh. Together they represent the finest tradition of Indian dance and music. We are very proud that they have agreed to accept these international awards. They have travelled all the way from India to accept these pioneering Milapfest arts awards, and, for that, we are very grateful.
Over the decades, many dedicated teachers and professionals have worked tirelessly for making this possible. Up and down the British Isles there are schools, art organisations and classes being delivered to meet these aspirations. Whilst there are numerous ways in which the sterling contribution of people in ares such as business and finance is being recognised, prior to the institution of the National Indian Arts Awards in 2015, there has never been any national award system that recognises and celebrates such dedicated services in the arts. It is important that the amazing and inspiring contribution of such professionals is recognised and honoured in a regular manner. This is why Milapfest, a national arts charity, decided to establish these annual awards. We are delighted and honoured that Arts Council England and the Indian High Commission in Britain have strongly supported the creation of these national awards. We believe that the establishment of these awards will create a better understanding of how such selfless work empowers and enriches the younger generation, and how it helps build bridges between the communities and professionals. We hope that in future years, these awards will contribute significantly towards providing a greater focus on the contribution of these exceptional professionals working in the field of Indian arts and provide opportunities for their work to expand in the years ahead. In addition to the contribution of these arts professionals, Milapfest also recognises the importance of supporting the many talented young people of Britain, and celebrating them for their hard work, dedication and skills in the practice, performance and propagation of Indian classical arts in this country. Therefore, a number of awards are also being presented to several exciting young professionals. We are also delighted to welcome Pritpal Ajimal, a very talented and impressive graphic design artist who at a very young age, is a pioneer of high quality design in the British Arts Sector. So we are very happy to present these awards to these outstanding individuals to whom we owe so much, and from whom we expect so much in the years ahead! In the years ahead, our aim is to to strongly continue and build upon this awards programme with the help and support of everyone working in this exciting and inspiring field of arts education. Next year, the National Indian Arts Awards will be once again be presented here the Southbank Centre in July 2019. So the journey continues! Prashant Nayak Executive Director, Milapfest
National Indian Arts Awards 2018 Programme Of The Evening 5pm 5 — 5:45pm 6 — 7pm 7 — 7:45pm 7:45 — 9:30pm
Arrivals of Guests Private Reception (Queen Elizabeth Hall Reception) Awards Ceremony (Purcell Room) Break/Winners’ Photographs (Queen Elizabeth Hall Reception) Concert Performance: Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh with KU Jayachandra Rao & Kosic Sen (Purcell Room)
Awards Programme 6pm 6:05pm 7:10pm — 7:40pm
Invocation by Smt. Manorama Prasad Introduction and Welcome by Dr Prashant Nayak, Executive Director Youth Awards Introduction Samyo Musician of the Year Award Presentation Sabrang Musician of the Year Award Presentation Milapfest Ensembles Award for Excellence Presentation Tarang Musician of the Year Award Presentation Address by Baron Gadhia of Northwood (Member of the House of Lords)
British Ratna Awards Introduction Yuva Nritya Ratna (Young Dancer of the Year) Award Presentation Yuva Sangeet Ratna (Young Musician of the Year) Award Presentation Kala Ratna (Significant Contribution) Award Presentation
Nritya Acharya Ratna (Distinguished Teacher of Dance) Award Presentation Sangeet Acharya Ratna (Distinguished Teacher of Music) Award Presentation Guru Ratna (Lifetime Achievement) Award Presentation
Address by Sir Nicholas Serota (Chair of Arts Council England)
International Indian Arts Awards Presentation Vishwa Kala Ratna (International) Award Presentation 2016 Vishwa Kala Ratna (International) Award Presentation 2018
Address by His Excellency Mr YK Sinha (High Commissioner of India)
6.50 — 6.55pm
Concluding remarks by Alok Nayak, Artistic Director
Chief Guest of honour His Excellency Mr Y.K. Sinha
High Commissioner of India His Excellency Mr. Y.K. Sinha is a seasoned diplomat and during a career spanning over 36 years, he has handled several important assignments at the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi and in Indian diplomatic missions in South Asia, the Middle East, Europe, South America and the Permanent Mission of India at the United Nations in New York. He holds
the rank of Secretary to the Government of India. Before coming to the UK, he was High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka from June 2013 to December 2016. Prior to this, he was Additional Secretary and headed the important Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran Division at the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi for almost four years.
Chief Guest Sir Nicholas Serota Chair of Arts Council England Nicholas Serota is the current Chair of Arts Council England having previously been the Director of Tate between 1988 and 2017. During his directorship, Tate opened Tate St Ives (1993) and Tate Modern (2000, expanded in 2016), redefining the Millbank building as Tate Britain (2000). Nicholas Serota has been a member of the Visual Arts Advisory Committee of the British Council, a Trustee of the Architecture
Foundation and a commissioner on the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. He was a member of the Olympic Delivery Authority which was responsible for building the Olympic Park in East London for the London 2012 Summer Olympics. He is also a member of the Executive Board of the BBC. Nicholas Serota was knighted in 1999 and appointed a Companion of Honour in 2013.
GUEST OF HONOUR Baron Gadhia of Northwood
Member of the House of Lords Baron Gadhia is a British investment banker, Conservative Party donor and member of the House of Lords. He was raised to the peerage in August 2016 as part of Cameron’s resignation honours list of Lords appointments. Gadhia has provided significant input on strengthening UKIndia relations and accompanied delegations to the subcontinent with Prime Minister Theresa May, former Prime Minister David Cameron,
former Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University. He is a Member of the UK-India CEO Forum which was established during Prime Narendra Modi’s historic visit to UK in November 2015. Gadhia is an active philanthropist both personally and through The Gadhia Foundation, supporting a wide range of charities in UK and overseas.
What Winning Has Meant to Me Elena Catalano
Yuva Nritya Ranta 2017 Milapfest International Travelling Fellowship in Dance 2018 Elena Catalano was the recipient of last year’s Yuva Nritya Ratna Award. Since receiving this accolade, she has been supported in her professional development by Milapfest and its networks. This year she was awarded the Milapfest International Travelling Fellowship which has supported her financially in her plans to travel internationally to further her training in Odissi dance. This year we awarded an additional Milapfest International Travelling Fellowship to Santosh Nair. Santosh will use the scholarship to travel to Singapore this Autumn to further her Bharatanatyam training by attending Dance India Asia Pacific.
Jasprit Rajbans
Yuva Sangeet Ratna 2017 with Tarang Tarang Musician of the Year 2016 “It was an honour to win the Tarang Musician of the Year award at the 2016 Arts Awards ceremony alongside such distinguished teachers and esteemed artists. The nomination was wholly unexpected as someone who is so early in my journey with music. As a Tabla player it brought me great joy to receive the award and many other percussionists also expressed their pride, it is not often that percussion is acknowledged on the same level as melody and vocal. Having made many conscious changes personally and mentally regarding my instrument with the guidance of my teachers, I am appreciative of Milapfest’s initiative in recognising commitment, hard-work and passion in the arts. Receiving the Yuva Sangeet Ratna Award in 2017 together with the other Tarang musicians has opened up many more opportunities for performing and for training. Not only was it great to win as a team, the award has given us financial support to take on new projects and encouragement for individual development.”
INTRODUCING THE AWARDEES
Samyo Musician of the Year Laksan Sakthiruban Laksan has been learning violin for 11 years under the tutelage of Kalaivani Indrakumar. Throughout his musical journey has taken across many experiences such as performing in Royal Festival Hall and learning from violin Maestros such as Kothandapani Sivaraman. He has participated in the Watford Music Festival 3 times coming first place in all times. He has performed for many university events such as Megamalai and BLAS. He has accompanied many famous people such as Sai Vignesh and Ajesh Ashok from Super Singer. He has been playing for weddings in London and abroad in Denmark and Canada. He completed his arangetram in 2016 with the presence of the ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakaram. He joined Samyo in 2016 and since then, he has gained more confidence and enjoys playing violin more.
Sabrang Musician of the Year Gurleen Kaur Gurleen joined SAMYO as a vocalist in 2012 and continued on to Sabrang when it was formed in 2014. Her previous experience with Indian orchestral music included arranging music for and leading the Indian Orchestra at school, but through SAMYO and Sabrang, Gurleen has been able to perform at well-known venues such at the Beck Theatre and Queen Elizabeth Hall, and learn from celebrated vocalists including Nisha Rajagopal, Madhup Mudgal, Sudha Raghuraman, and Vijay Rajput. Music has always been a big part of Gurleen’s life. She began learning Gurbani Kirtan (Sikh Music) before she was old enough to go to school or big enough to reach the other side of a harmonium! Although her parents are not classically trained, they ensured that Gurleen and her siblings were able to avail any musical opportunity that came their way. Through her school years, Gurleen would go on to learn from many renowned ragis and artists, including
Satvinder Singh Taan, Giani Darshan Singh Sohal, Dr Sangeeta Chaudhary, and Ustaad Kiranpal Singh Deoora. She also gained a deeper understanding of instrumental music by learning Carnatic violin from Candida Connolly and K.T. Sivaganesh, sitar from Mehboob Nadeem, and dilruba and sarangi from Ustaad Surjeet Singh. Gurleen has also been teaching music for many years, and in addition to a busy life as a medical student, she is currently Kirtan coordinator at SSSEC, an educational charity of which she is a founder member. In 2010, her team won the annual international Hemkunt Keertan Darbaar and Gurleen was awarded best main vocalist. The teams she has participated in, and the younger teams she has prepared, have consistently won at the national level. Gurleen hopes to continue developing her musical knowledge and skills both for her own enjoyment and to bring the joy of classical Gurbani Kirtan and music to others.
Tarang Musician of the Year SRUTTI SURESAN Srutti joined Tarang in 2015 as a vocalist and a lapsteel guitarist. She began her Carnatic vocal training under her mother, Smt. Sumathy Suresan, with whom she successfully completed her arangetram and now receives further training under the tutelage of the eminent Dr. Rajkumar Bharathi from India. She has completed her Teacher’s Diploma in vocal with a first class under the Academy of Fine Arts, London. The lapsteel guitar was introduced to her by her guru, late Shri Yarl T Seelan, and she aims to work towards presenting this instrument into the world of Carnatic music. In addition to this, she has also completed her diploma in Veena and Bharathanatyam. Alongside being deeply rooted in her tradition, she has also furthered her knowledge in music by learning western classical violin and piano, achieving Grade 8 distinction in both instruments (ABRSM). Throughout her musical journey she has gained several awards, including a music scholarship on the western violin at Queen Mary’s University of London, where she’s studying medicine.
Milapfest Ensembles Award for Excellence Meerah Perinpanathan Reshmi Sivatheesan Askhita Madabushi Anita Adiga Harpreet Kaur Lavan Ravindran
Yuva Nritya Ratna Award Odissi Dr Rani Natalie Raut Rani Natalie Rout has been trained in ballet, tap, modern and classical Indian dance from the age of two. Having started her dance journey with ballet, the first Indian classical dance style that she experienced was Bharatnatyam and then she took up Kathak alongside it. After a few years, while attending a course under Padmashree Madhavi Mudgal, she decided to specialise in Odissi. Natalie has been trained by Guru Ratikant Mohapatra and Guru Sujata Mohapatra. More recently she has been named as one of the ‘Top Ten Odissi Talents’ at the international dance festival ‘Odissi International’ and has performed at several international dance festivals since.
Kandyan Dilini Seneviratne Dilini is an advocate and pioneer in British Kandyan dance scene in UK – dedicated to ensuring that traditional Sri Lankan dancing receives the recognition it deserves outside of Sri Lanka. She is primarily self-taught in many dance styles and has performed under Sri Lanka’s finest dance gurus Professor Mudiyanse Dissanayake and Ms Kumudu Perera. Over the past decade, she has performed at various highprofile events and prestigious venues including Lord’s, The Oval, Rose Bowl - representing the Sri Lankan Tourism Bureau and Sri Lankan Cricket, Sri Lankan High Commission - for yearlong cultural events, welcoming ceremonies for diplomats from all over the world, relaunch of British Airways to Sri Lanka, World Travel Market and Sri Lankan TV channels. During her time at University of Southampton, she started the first ever classical dance society - Southampton Kandyan and Bharatanatyam Dance. She has trained students with multiple abilities, choreographed dance acts for national level competitions and performances all over UK. Various milestones achieved by the society led by her resulted in her winning multiple awards
including Highly commended for Achievements in Dance, Most Likely to be Notable Dancer after university, Excellence in Volunteering– Outstanding Leader and Lifetime membership to Union for dedication to Performing Arts. Wanting to push further on creating bigger and better platforms for classical dancers, she created the first ever inter-university classical dance competition in UK called THAALA. By creating this, she opened many doors for classical dancing opportunities for not just Kandyan dancers but Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi and fusion dancers in UK as well. Dilini was interviewed by South Asian Radio Star – Ashanti Omkar from BBC Asian Network to introduce Kandyan to her listeners, for the first time in the show’s history. Through UCL’s Rangeela showcase, she has taken Kandyan to West-End’s Adelphi Theatre with a team of 15 dancers trained by herself and finally, she recently won the People’s Choice Award from Inspiring Indian Women organisation for promoting Sri Lankan arts and culture in UK at the Westminster Parliament.
Bharatanatyam Annie Simon Annie Alexis Simon began dancing aged six, training in ballet, tap, and modern. In 2009, aged 14, she began training in Bharatanatyam under Dr Swati Raut, an established dance artist, choreographer, and teacher in the North West, and soon developed a love for the classical art form. Taking regular dance classes at the North West Asian Arts centre in Bolton, Annie regularly performed at their annual shows.
While attending university, Annie continued to train under Dr Swati Raut, and after completing her undergraduate degree in English Literature at Durham University Annie interned with Swati Dance Company, teaching Bharatanatyam classes in Bolton, Preston and Liverpool. She also began working towards her arangetram which she completed in September 2017 at the Capstone Theatre in Liverpool.
Annie soon joined Swati Youth Dance, which gave her the opportunity to receive intensive training, attend workshops with choreographers, and work with other young Bharatanatyam dancers to strengthen her technique and performance skills.
Since then Annie has completed her masters degree in Journalism at City University in London, and continues to dance. She has recently begun training in Mohiniattam under Dr Swati Raut, with whom she continues to train in Bharatanatyam. Annie has recently been accepted into The Natya Project, an initiative set up to explore the possibility of piloting a Bharatanatyam touring company. She is one of the five dancers chosen to partake in the training project this summer.
With Swati Youth Dance Annie has performed at multiple national U-Dance festivals, and Swati Dance Company productions including Kinkini, Basant Bells, Samyoga, and most recently, Pancham.
Yuva Sangeet Ratna Young Musician of the Year REKESH CHAUHAN Rekesh Chauhan is a British Indian pianist and composer. Having studied western classical music on both the guitar and piano from an early age, he later went on to train in Indian classical music. His knack for amalgamating both eastern and western styles has brought him much recognition and invitations to appear in concerts internationally: including, Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, Southbank Centre (venues in Queen Elizabeth Hall and Royal Festival Hall), Cadogan Hall and London’s V&A museum to name just a handful of prestigious venues. Having begun his musical journey supporting artists including MOBO award- winning jazz pianist Zoe Rahman, he went on to collaborate
with Mercury Prize award-winner Talvin Singh OBE at Ronnie Scotts. He was a featured introducing artist on national BBC radio and has performed with his own ensembles in arenas to audiences over 60,000 people. He was the recipient of the Eastern Electronic Festival prize award. Rekesh’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘Beyond Roots’, released under Milapfest in 2015, won him spectacular praise from tabloid press to BBC prime-time radio play. His latest release ‘Avartan’ in 2018 earned him a no.2 chart position on the iTunes World Music Charts. As a 4th generation member of the Indian diaspora, his influence is considered pivotal in shaping and representing Asians throughout the world of music. Rekesh is a contributing author to the “The Living Bridge – the Rise of the Millennial’s” publication providing advisory
assistance to the Government of India. He was invited by the University of Oxford as a pianist as part of the university’s Hilary Term exploring the research and amalgamation of Hindustani Classical Music with other cultures. Rekesh is often seen with the most respected names of Indian classical music earning him a glittering credit list of performances with Mahalaxmi Iyer (voice on ‘Jai Ho’, Slumdog Millionaire), Pandit Birju Maharaj, Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Ravindra Jain, Swapan Chaudhari and Hans Raj Hans to name just a few. His audiences range from Bollywood A-lister Govinda to having performed in music sessions with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
Kala Ratna Award Pritpal Ajimal Pritpal Ajimal has worked as a freelance designer since 2004 after interning for renowned designer Hillman Curtis in New York. This involved working on various website projects and Pritpal received close mentoring from Hillman himself. He also worked on the ultimately successful proposal to redesign the Yahoo front page. The majority of Pritpal’s work has been in the South Asian Arts sector, creating innovative creative branding and promotional materials. His first ever design job was with SAA-UK back in 2001. His most prolific relationship has been with Mialpfest, the UK’s leading Indian Arts Development Trust, with whom he was been working with for 15 years. In that time he has completely transformed their visual brand aesthetics, including work for their ensembles Samyo and Tarang, their annual festival INDIKA, and their long-running concert series, Music for the Mind and Soul.
In 2006, Pritpal took over the design of the South Asian Arts sector’s only industry magazine - Pulse - specialising in South Asian dance and music, creating a design that was visually appealing whilst also keeping its academic roots of in-depth articles on various subjects. Beyond this he has worked with several South Asian Arts organisations and artists. He has also worked with many musicians to create websites, album artwork and other promotional material, including Dennis Rollins, Talvin Singh, Soumik Datta, Sachal Music and Pandit Sharda Sahai. He created brand identity for record label Sachal Music including designing standard visual identity for album artwork for all releases and creating site and all collateral. Pritpal’s other work includes designing the media guide for TeamGB Boxing for London 2012, and the rebranding of the London International Arts Festival, Artlyst and Charlie Smith London.
He was also resident photographer for South Asian Arts organisation Manasamitra documenting all their music and dance shows between 2007 – 2010, as well as doing photo shoots with Talvin Singh, Deedar Zaman (former lead singer of Asian Dub Foundation), Eric Truffaz, Soumik Datta, Bernhard Schimpelsberger and Jyotsna Srikanth. Outside of his design work, Pritpal is also a talented illustrator and has just launched a line of t-shirts with themes including Indian classical dance silhouettes.
Nritya Acharya Ratna Award Anusha Subramanyam Anusha Subramanyam is a strong arts leader who has consistently proven her vision and adaptability in the emerging sector of South Asian Dance in the UK. Her brilliance lies in her ability to connect, inspire and influence people to use arts, especially dance, to make an invigorating difference. As the artistic director of London based dance theatre company, Beeja, Anusha has created work that is accessible, entertaining and thought provoking, integrating dance, education, and somatic and contemplative practices. She is widely recognised, both in the UK and internationally as one of the most exciting exponents of Bharatanatyam, working both ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ its traditions. She developed her dance practice in a wide range of settings – from formal stage to venues as varied as hospitals, village halls, museums and even London Underground station. Anusha is an alumnus of Kalakshetra College of Fine Arts, Chennai, where she graduated with honours in 1986. She subsequently trained under Leela Sampson. With her mother Jaya Subramanyam she worked with children with special needs. Anusha studied Dance Movement Therapy in the UK supported by multiple scholarships. Anusha is the Director of Yuva Gati and leads the Bharatanatyam and Kathak strands at the CAT (Centre of Advanced Training) Birmingham. She has been instrumental in changing the landscape for Yuva Gati by nurturing young dancers across the length and breadth of the country, connecting with teachers and parents, in a programme that imparts the qualities of cultural aesthetics - ‘samskaara’, ethos, translating to a holistic, integration with larger arts community in the UK. As a teacher, Anusha, has taught people with a range of backgrounds, abilities and experience. Her main aim in her teaching is to expand the understanding of dance to help students create their own practice and enjoy dancing. She has been curating events like the Dance Festival Croydon and Croydon International Mela, showcasing dance from a variety of genres along with her partner Vipul Sangoi. A champion for South Asian and inclusive dance practice, Anusha has been on the board of organisations like People Dancing and Live Music Now. She has received numerous awards for her work including the Asian Women Achievement Award in Culture, 2011 presented by IWA, UK.
Sangeet Acharya Ratna Award Vamshikrishna Vishnudas Sri Vamshikrishna Vishnudas is a talented vocalist from South India, obtained “Sangeetha Visharada� in Music from the Telugu University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. He has performed extensively in India, received several prizes and awards as a young musician. Living in the United Kingdom for the past 15 years, Vamshikrishna has gained reputation as a solo performer, accompanist for dance and is an acclaimed teacher and is a resident vocal teacher at Pandit Ram Sahai Sangit Vidyalaya. Vamshikrishna is a Graded Artiste at All India Radio, he has been working with many internationally renowned musicians, dancers and dance teachers for their performances and productions, been a part of several creative music and dance projects not only in the U.K, but also in the other parts of Europe, Canada. He has recently performed across Japan with the vocal band Yantra and featured in a couple of cross cultural music albums produced by Martin Glover(Youth) in 2017. He founded an organisation Sampradaaya in the year 2005 to train, mentor and provide regular opportunities to the students to perform.
Sangeet Ratna Award Ramachandra Rao Narsimha Prakash R.N.Prakash is a versatile artist from Bangalore who is specialised in South Indian percussion instruments: Mridangam, Ghatam, and Khanjira. Prakash started learning Mridangam at the age of 6 from Bangalore Vidwan K.N.KrishnaMurthy. Prakash started travelling abroad and performing at a very early age, this bought him to England at the age of 17. He is a regular traveller to America and Canada and he has travelled widely across Europe to countries such as: Italy, France, Germany, Poland, and Switzerland. R.N.Prakash is an all-rounder who has performed in various classical concerts, Jugalbandhi (a mixture of North and south music), and bands such as ShivaNova, Raga Nova and Massive Attack. He has also performed for quite a few prestigious organizations in India and abroad. He has a highly adaptable & anticipative style of accompaniment, which is reason enough for him to have accompanied most of the leading artists of India and abroad. This includes Dr.Balamuralikrishna, D.K.Jayraman, Sudha Raghunathan, Nityasree Mahadevan, Rajkumar Bharathi, Mandolin U.Srinivas, and K.J.Yesudas. Prakash specialises in conducting workshops and educational projects for a range of age groups. He works for Shivanova, Wise Moves, Arts Asia, and Beeja on their educational projects and concerts. He has also taught in Goldsmiths College Lewisham for their special crash course on Indian Rhythms. Additionally, he is a senior teacher for the cultural organisation “London school of Carnatic Music” based in Lewisham and has his own Institution “Indian Percussive Arts centre” which has promoted Indian Music and culture to students of all backgrounds. Furthermore, he has started a music institution in India in the name of his master “K.N.Krishna Murthy free School of Percussion Art” which has enabled interested students who can’t afford to learn, to learn Mridangam and Ghatam free of cost.
Guru Ratna Award Dharambir Singh Dhadyalla MBE Dharambir Singh is one of the most prominent North Indian Classical musicians based in U.K. A student of the legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan he also studied for his MA at the School Of Oriental and African studies at the University of London and is fellow of NESTA (National Endowment for Science Technology and Arts) and FTCL (Fellow Trinity College London). He has been awarded the MBE award for the 2011. Apart for his extensive performance career Dharambir’s reputation as an educator is unparalleled in England. He worked as a tutor with Leicester Music Service, lecturer at Leeds College Of Music and an adviser at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on their BMus Degree in Indian Music in collaboration with Trinity College Of Music. He founded South Asain Arts-uk in Leeds. He was the founder and the artistic director of SAMYo the first national south Asian music youth orchestra and artistic adviser for Tarang, UK’s first South Asian senior ensemble. He was a trustee with Darbar Heritage. As part of his fellowship he has been involved in pioneering work in creating technology solutions in different areas of North Indian Musical training. The software’s he has created provide self study and teaching tools for pitch, rhythm, ragas and colour, tanpura (drone) and software’s which responds to the Indian Sargam (solfa). He works as a freelance performer, tutor and consultant.
Vishwa Kala Ratna Award 2016 Smt. Priyadarsini Govind Dance is such a complete line with visuals, poetry, drama, music…you use your whole body to communicate all of this” says Priyadarsini Govind. A graduate in commerce from the University of Madras, Chennai, Priyadarsini holds a diploma in Mass Communication, but Bharatanatyam has been her first love ever since she was six. After initial grooming under Smt. Usha, Priyadarsini specialized in abhinaya under ‘Padma Bhushan’ Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan from the age of nine. Priyadarsini received advanced training in Bharatanatyam under Guru Swamimalai K. Rajaratnam, exponent of the Vazhvoor School from the age of ten. Priyadarsini imbibes the best of both her teachers. Priyadarsini has been giving recitals from the age of sixteen and has performed in numerous sabhas and academies in India and abroad. We are delightedto welcome Priyadarsini, the recipient of our very first Vishwa Kala Ratna award in 2016 to this year’s ceremony. Due to scheduling conflicts, Priyadarsini Jiwas not able to join us in 2016, but we are delighted she will be with us at this year’s ceremony to accept her award.
Vishwa Kala Ratna Award Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh With her mesmerizing glides, the timing and purity of her notes and her soulful playing, Dr. Jayanthi Kumaresh has been captivating audiences around the world for 30 years now and is one of the leading Veena artistes today. A sixth generation musician, she began playing the Veena since age of 3 and is one of the youngest veena artistes to receive the A-TOP grading, the highest from All India Radio. Apart from several prestigious venues and festivals in India, Jayanthi has performed at several international festivals such as San Francisco Jazz Festival, Darbar festival, Queensland Music Festival, Darwin Music Festival, Adelaide Music Festival and at prestigious venues such as U.N, New York, Palladium, Indiana, Theatre de la Ville, Paris, Northwest folklife festival, Seattle. She has received many awards in India including “Sangeetha Choodamani”, “Kalaimamani” by the Government of Tamil Nadu, “Veena Naada Mani”, “Kala Ratna”, “Sathyashree”, “Gaana Varidhi”, is
a seven-time recipient of The Music Academy, Chennai’s “Award for Veena” to name a few. A collaborator, she has performed with legends such as tabla Ustad Zakir Hussain, Violin Maestro Shri. R. Kuamaresh, Flautist Ronu Majumdar, and the like. A pioneer, she founded the Indian National Orchestra, where 21 musicians playing different Indian instruments come together under one banner to showcase Indian classical music. A researcher, she holds a Doctorate for her work on “styles and playing techniques of the Saraswati veena” and conducts workshops and lecture demonstrations around the world. A composer, she has scored music for several dance productions and musicals. Her music for the dance ballet Krishna Bhakthi for Rasika, Portland featured both the Carnatic and Hindustani styles of compositions. She composed and released the album “Mysterious Duality” which is a multi-dimensional reflection
of the simple yet complex self - through a single instrument, the Veena. The artist has overlaid layers of several Veena recordings to create a symphonic composition. Jayanthi has recorded for world renowned Labels such as Times Music, Music Today, Sa re ga ma, Sense World and Home Records. The niece of Violin Legend Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman, Jayanthi attributes what she is today to her maternal aunt and guru, Smt. Padmavathy Ananthagopalan, whose training helped Jayanthi evolve as an artiste. Her mother Smt. Lalgudi Rajalakshmi first introduced her to music and she is also fortunate to have trained later under Veena Virtuoso Dr. S. Balachander. Blending the traditional and the innovative in her music in terms of content, technique, virtuosity and expression, Jayanthi seeks to express the true voice of the veena, which transcends the boundaries of language and region.
Previous Awardees Samyo Musician of the Year 2017 — Ashnaa Sasikaran 2016 — Aditi Subramanian 2015 — Sanjuran Keerthikumar
Milapfest Ensembles Award for Excellence 2017 — Jainee-Khushali Patel
Tarang Musician of the Year 2016 — Jasprit Kaur Rajbans 2015 — Jasdeep Singh Degun
Yuva Nritya Ratna Award 2017 — Elena Catalano 2015 — Parbati Chaudhary 2014 — Uma Venkataraman 2013 — Apoorva Jeyaraman
Yuva Sangeet Ratna Award 2017 — Tarang 2016 — Jasdeep Singh Degun 2014 — Nilanjana De, Yarlinie Thanabalasingham 2013 — Angira Kotal
Nritya Acharya Ratna Award 2017 — Dr Swati Raut, Sonia Sabri 2016 — Smt. Usha Raghavan 2015 — Pushkala Gopal
Sangeet Acharya Ratna Award 2017 — Chandrima Misra, M Balachandar 2016 — Smt. Shivatharini Sahathevan 2015 — Sivasakthi Sivanesan
Vishwa Kala Ratna Award 2017 — Anita Ratnam 2016 — Priyadarsini Govind
Lifetime Achievement 2017 — Nahid Siddiqui 2016 — Smt. Manorama Prasad 2015 — M N Nandakumar
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The National Indian Arts Awards 2019 July 2019
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