Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Carnatica's nine-day Bharat Sangeet Utsav 2006 concludes

Staff Reporter

Rasika Awards given away to music lovers

CHENNAI: The nine-day Bharat Sangeet Utsav 2006, a music festival organised by Carnatica at Narada Gana Sabha, ended on Thursday with a musical discourse by Vishaka Hari.

But not before the organisers made a unique gesture to the fans present.

At the valedictory session, M.A. Baby, Kerala's Minister for Education, gave away `Rasika Awards'.

The `Rasika Awards' is a concept initiated by Carnatica, through which music lovers who attended the concerts and sent in their reviews and opinions were recognised.

Shashikiran, Director, of Carnatica, says the Rasika Awards is a very simple concept, wherein "we not only reward the listener but also provide him a much-needed platform to air his thoughts on the state of classical music today."

Sri Krishna Sweets, partnered with Carnatica in giving away the Rasika Awards.

To maximize the listeners' involvement, prizes were given every day to members of the audience who guessed right the main raga of each performance beforehand, says Carnatica's director-vocalist Sowmya.

Senior musicians Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman and Dr. N. Ramani as well as the festival's sponsors were felicitated on the occasion.

The organisation plans to make Bharat Sangeet Utsav an annual feature on Chennai's cultural calendar, besides its December music season series.

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