Music director A. R. Rahman was the chief guest at the opening evening of the 99th annual conference and concerts of The Music Academy held on December 15. This choice was fodder for debate on social media.
The Academy’s auditorium though was not packed with Rahman’s fans; in fact, it was a sedate event where Sangita Kalanidhi-designate violinist R K Shriram Kumar was presented the M S Subbulakshmi award, a recent tradition followed on this day by the Academy.
His election as president of the conference was proposed by ‘Bombay’ Jayashri and seconded by T. M. Krishna.
Shriram Kumar made a very long speech – tracing his roots and career and concert experiences and touching on Carnatic music and its place in today’s world.
It needed gentle applause by some people in the hall to signal to him to wind up.
Rahman made an extempore speech; he seemed listless when Shriram Kumar was speaking. That evening he had spent two hours at an event hosted by violinist Dr L Subramaniam.
That evening, percussionist K. Arun Prakash presented a concert by an ensemble of vocalists and instrumentalists.
