NEW DELHI: A total of nine musicians are among the awardees of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for 2008.
The musicians are namely Rajnish Mishra and Ritesh Mishra (Joint Puraskar), and Vishal Jain for Hindustani Vocal; Jay Shankar Mishra (Tabla) and Debopriya Chatterjee (Flute) for Hindustani Instrumental Music; V. Sumitra and Manasi Prasad for Carnatic Vocal; C S Balabhaskar (Violin) and B S Purushotham (Kanjeera) for Carnatic Instrumental Music.
The awards will be presented Sangeet Natak Akademi Chairman Ram Niwas Mirdha at a special investiture on 10 September. The ceremony will be followed by a weeklong festival of Music, Dance and Theatre etc. featuring some of the recipients of the year from 10-16 September 2009.
The â€?Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar’ was instituted in 2006 by Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture, and the apex institution of performing arts in the country. The Puraskar is meant to encourage outstanding young talents in diverse fields of performing arts and give them national recognition early in life so that they may work with greater commitment and dedication in life-long pursuit of their chosen art-form. The Puraskar is given to performing artists below the age of 35 years as on 1st April of the year and covers music, dance, theatre, puppetry and scholarship in performing arts.
The puraskar for the year 2008 was decided by the General Council of Sangeet Natak Akademi at its meeting held in April 2009, in New Delhi. A total of 33 young artistes who have made a mark in their respective fields of performing arts including dance, theatre, and folk art forms have been selected from all over the country.