Maharashtra Governor C V Rao launched the birth centenary celebrations of legendary vocalist and classical singer M S Subbulakshmi at a function in Mumbai late on Sunday night.
The Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha President V Shankar said it has also set up a Sri Shanmukhananda Bharat Ratna M S Subbulakshmi Sangeetha Pracharya Award to honour outstanding music teachers from across the country.
The Shanmukhananda Sabha has organised a four-day music festival in Subbulakshmi’s memory, which will end on Wednesday, said coordinator K A Vishwanathan.
To mark the launch, governor Rao felicitated Radha Viswanathan, the 80-year-old daughter of the late Subbulakshmi and conferred her with the first Pracharya Award instituted in her mothers’ name.
Radha was an eminent singer and dancer, said K A Vishwanathan.
The Sabha, which usually gives M S Subbulakshmi music scholarships to 28 promising students every year, will give 50 students scholarships worth Rs100,000 (Dh5,533) for three years, as part of the centenary celebrations.
M S Subbulakshmi was born on September 16, 1916, at Madurai in the then Madras presidency into a family of artistes; musicians, singers and dancers, and started learning classical music at a young age.
She released her first record in 1926 at the age of 10 and gave her first public performance in 1927 at the Rockfort temple in Tiruchirapalli.
Later, she moved to Madras where she acted in movies and pursued her vocal music career, giving concerts at the age of 17 and travellig to many countries for performances, including for the United Nations in 1966.
The national and international awards conferred to M S Subbulakshmi include the Bharat Ratna, India’s top civilian award (1998), the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1974) and the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration (1990).
After a long and glorious career spanning almost eight decades, she died in December 2004 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
