US Congress honours music maestro Balamuralikrishna
Friday, October 12, 2007
16:50 IST
New York: The US Congress has issued a Congressional recognition honouring Indian music maestro M Balamuralikrishna for his stellar contribution to Carnatic music for the past seven decades.
The proclamation, successfully piloted by Texas Congressman Nick Lampson, was presented to the music maestro at a function held here last weekend.
New Jersey State Assembly's resolution paying a tribute to Balamuralikrishna was also read out on the occasion. A concert by the maestro followed the function.
The event commemorated Balamuralikrishna's career spanning 70 years as well as his 77th birthday.
It was organised by Shri Vari Foundation, formed in New York to promote Indian music and dance in the US.
Prakaash M Swami, a journalist who has launched Shri Vari Foundation, described Balamuralikrishna as a living legend.
His rich contribution to Indian classical music includes sustained efforts to resurrect forgotten ragas.
He has over 400 compositions to his credit including varnams, krithis, javalis, devotional songs and thillanas.
He has sung in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Oriya, Kannada, Malayalam, Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi and French. He has held concerts across the world and cut scores of albums.
The acclaimed vocalist's duets with North Indian vocalists and instrumentalists such as Bhimsen Joshi, Kishori Amonkar and Hariprasad Chaurasia have forged national integration through music.
He is also an accomplished instrumentalist, playing the violin, veena, ganjira, viola and the mridangam with equal ease.
The MBK Trust founded by him in Chennai is carrying out research on music therapy.
Balamuralikrishna's contribution to Indian music has won him laurels at home and abroad.
He is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest Indian civilian honour, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, apart from the Sangeetha Kalanidhi award presented by the Madras Music Academy.
France has bestowed on him the title of Chevalier des Arts et Letters (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) in Paris has honoured him with the Gandhi Memorial Medal.
Balamuralikrishna has been conferred honorary doctorates by 10 universities in India. He served as pro-chancellor of a Telugu University in Hyderabad and as first professor of Dr. Radhakrishnan Chair at the Central University, also in Hyderabad.
Chennai-based Balamuralikrishna was born in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh.
The MBK Trust founded by him in Chennai is carrying out research on music therapy.
Balamuralikrishna's contribution to Indian music has won him laurels at home and abroad.
He is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest Indian civilian honour, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, apart from the Sangeetha Kalanidhi award presented by the Madras Music Academy.
France has bestowed on him the title of Chevalier des Arts et Letters (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) in Paris has honoured him with the Gandhi Memorial Medal.
Balamuralikrishna has been conferred honorary doctorates by 10 universities in India. He served as pro-chancellor of a Telugu University in Hyderabad and as first professor of Dr. Radhakrishnan Chair at the Central University, also in Hyderabad.
Chennai-based Balamuralikrishna was born in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh.
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