Renowned sitarist Pandit Debu Chaudhuri will be conferred with this year's SaMaPa Vitasta Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the field of Hindustani classical music.
The prestigious awards, instituted by the Sopori Academy of Music And Performing Arts (SaMaPa), were announced today and will be given during the 10th annual SaMaPa Sangeet Sammelan starting tomorrow, as a tribute to Indian and particularly Kashmiri culture.
The awards were decided by the SaMaPa board headed by chairman and music legend Pandit Bhajan Sopori and will be given during the three-day long festival, said Santor maestro and SaMaPA General Secretary Abhay Rustum Sopori.
The award, which carries a cash reward of Rs 50,000, is given for unparallelled contribution to Indian art and heritage and has been named after the historical river 'Vitasta' of Kashmir, also known as Jehlum.
The SaMaPa Award for contribution to folk culture will be given to Munir Ahmad Mir for his dedication and immense contribution to Kashmiri music, while Subhra Mazumdar will receive the "SaMaPa Acharya Abhinavgupt Samman" for her lifetime contribution to the field of music as a music critic.
SaMaPa Acharya Abhinavgupt Samman is a special award named after Acharya Abhinavgupt of 10th century from Kashmir and is given to music critics, musicologists and scholars for their work towards music and performing arts.
SaMaPa Yuva Ratan Samman will be conferred upon young vocalist Dhananjay Hegde for his achievements in the field of Hindustani classical music, a statement said.
The festival this year will feature concerts by Ajay Prasanna (flute), Anjani Mishra, Nitin Sharma, Sameer Bhalerao, Dhananjay Hegde in vocals and other noted musicians.
