By Rons Bantwal
Daijiworld Media Network—Mumbai (RD/CN)
 
Mumbai, Mar 8: Governor of Maharashtra K Sankaranarayanan on Saturday March 6 conferred the ‘10th Sri Shanmukhananda National Eminence Award’ on Sangeetha Kalanidhi Nedunuri Krishnamurthy of Visakhapatnam in the metro.

The award was presented in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the promotion and preservation of Carnatic music.
 
Speaking on the occasion, the Governor described Nedunuri as a living legend and called for preservation of the rich musical legacy created by him
 
The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lac, a citation, a silver lamp, and a trophy. The first award instituted by the Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha was presented to Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.
 
V Shankar, president of the Shanmukhananda Sabha, and a large number of Carnatic music lovers were present on the occasion.
 
The felicitation was followed with a concert by Nedunuri’s disciple Sarada Subramanian.
 
Nedunuri was born to Ramamurthy Panthulu and Vijayalakshmi on October 10, 1927 at Kuthepalli, Pithampuram taluk of Andhra Pradesh.

He received his early training from the late Dwaram Narasinga Rao. In 1949, he came under the influence of the great master Padma Bhushan Dr Sripada Pinakapani.

He was the dean of the faculty of fine arts and chairman of the board of studies in Music with Sri Venkateswara and Nagarjuna Universities.

Nedunuri established the Nadasudha Trust for preserving and popularizing Carnatic music. Beginning with Sangeetha Choodamani in 1986, he has won several awards and accolades during his musical career spanning 65 years.