Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.

Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan seeks awards for young musicians

Image
Press Trust of India New York
Last Updated : Oct 06 2013 | 1:25 PM IST
Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan has appealed to the Indian government to institute a national prize for music on the lines of Arjuna Award given to sportspersons to foster young talents in classical music.
Khan said he has written to the President and Home Minister that time has come to support young musicians below the age of 40 to foster classical music in India.
"When we recognise young sports persons when they are 30 why we fail to recognise young musicians and wait till they reach 80 to bestow on them Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi awards? It's the duty of Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) to foster young talents and support them rather than sending older people on foreign tours," he told PTI in an interview.
"What motivation youngsters will have to take to classical music if no recognition comes to them? They are into music not to make money but to wet their passion, the maestro said," he said.
Khan, 67, said that the least the government can do is to support young musicians much like the way sportspersons are encouraged in the form of awards such as the Arjuna Award.
"We see that the government recently honoured a musician who was 105 and why wait until the musicians can't walk to the podium and can't hear what has been said about him or her on the stage? Why give awards in death beds?" he asked.
"I am not against honouring artists at old age but the question comes up is what the government was doing all these years to identify the artist and does the people who make the selection know about his or her contribution to music?" he said.

More From This Section

Khan argued that artists should be encouraged when they are young and not when they have retired.
Although there is no age for art or music there is age limit for artists and musicians, he said.
Calling for recognition of young Indian artists, Khan said India is young and vibrant and has world's fastest growing young population but not much has been done to support young artists.
Traditional art has suffered at the hands of 500 plus television channels and TRP ratings have given birth to reality shows and rubbish programmes, Khan said.
In a special performance, Khan and his sons Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan enthralled the audience at the United Nations with a half-hour long recital of tunes such as 'Vaishnav Jan to' and 'Raghupati Raghav Rajaram' on 'International Day of Non-Violence' last week.

Also Read

First Published: Oct 06 2013 | 1:25 PM IST

Next Story