Music Awardees 2018
Ashok Viswanathan and Shatavisha Mukherjee are the 2018 Music Awardees.
Ashok Viswanathan
Ashok Viswanathan has been studying Carnatic Classical music for the past 9 years. He is a student of Vidushi Charumathi Raghuraman. Ashok has performed at numerous Navratri celebrations and local festivals in Chennai. He was chosen by the Narada Gana Sabha for a special training camp in the improvisational aspects of Carnatic music. He has won prizes at music competitions hosted by the Indian Fine Arts Academy, Mylapore Fine Arts as a junior musician. Ashok is the winner of the coveted 1st prize senior award at Mylapore Fine Arts Sabha for manodharmam (improvisation).
As a student of Sanskrit, Ashok enjoys Panini Vyakarna and Kaavya. He has completed advanced level exams in Sanskrit and has won many prizes for Gita chanting. Ashok is interested in making violins and hopes to be a skilled violinmaker.
Shatavisha Mukherjee
Music has always been the primary part of my life. My musical education started at the early age of three with Pandit A Kanan and later continued under Padmashri Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar as a scholar of ITC Sangeet Research Academy. The journey since then has been like a roller coaster ride. Having been a diligent student I was lucky to have had the opportunity to learn the styles of Jaipur, Agra and Gwalior gharanas from my Guru as well as pursue an education in History. I have recently completed my Masters degree in History from the renowned Jadavpur University in Kolkata.
I am grateful to the Inlaks Foundation for awarding me with this fellowship. This award will facilitate a project that combines my love for music and history. I am currently tracing the historical references of the lyrics of the bandishes used in Hindustani Classical Music. This is a truly exciting project, as I believe it will form an important guide for all students of music. By understanding the stories behind every bandish I will be able to express the emotions and significance of every piece and therefore connect with my audience like never before.
