Vocalist Sowmya receives Saraswathi Puraskaram from C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation
The C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation conferred the Saraswathi Puraskaram – 2022 to Dr S. Sowmya for her remarkable contribution to Carnatic music. Dr. Vyjayanthimala Bali, awardee for 2019, and Justice Smt. Prabha Sridevan (retd.) former judge of the Madras High Court, presented the Saraswathi Puraskaram to Dr. S. Sowmya.
Dr. S. Sowmya is currently the Vice Chancellor of the Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Music and Fine Arts University and a visiting Professor at The Music Academy, Madras. She is respected for her classical style and large repertoire spanning a wide spectrum of composers, including some of the rarest works of the Carnatic Trinity. She is the recipient of several prestigious awards and titles, including the Sangita Kalanidhi in 2019 from the Music Academy Madras.
Dr. Nanditha Krishna (President, C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation) and Dr. Sumathi Krishnan (Secretary, The Music Academy, Madras and Trustee, The C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation) addressed the gathering.
Dr Nanditha said that the Saraswathi Puraskaram has been instituted in honour of Smt. Saraswathi Pattabhi Raman who, along with her husband Shri. C. R. Pattabhi Raman, donated the ancestral family property situated on No.1, Eldams Road in Alwarpet, Chennai, to the C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation. Saraswathi Pattabhi Raman was an accomplished musician – a vocalist and also played six instruments: veena, violin, mridangam, harmonium, flute and piano. She was trained in Western and Indian classical music.
In September 2011, The C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation launched the first annual Navaratri Festival of Music and violin maestro M. Chandrasekharan received the Saraswathi Puraskaram for his lifetime service in music.
The awardees since 2011 include Shri. M. Chandrasekharan (2011), Dr. R. Vedavalli (2012), Maharajapuram S. Srinivasan (2013), veena vidushi E. Gayathri (2014), Dr. Padma Subramaniam (2015), Chitra Visweswaran (2016), Aruna Sairam (2017), Dr. Premeela Gurumurthy (2018) and Dr. Vyjayanthimala Bali (2019).
