Students of Advanced School of Carnatic Music receive diplomas

CHENNAI

Seventeen students from three batches of the Advanced School of Carnatic Music received their diplomas here on Friday.

While speaking at the event, musician Sudha Ragunathan recollected her first tryst with the Music Academy, where she came as a student to attend competitions. “My relationship with the Music Academy was consistently long, precious and very special to me. I began participating in competitions, slowly began performing in the 12 p.m. slot, moved to sub-senior and finally to the senior slot and was fortunate enough to have gotten the ‘Sangitha Kalanidhi’ award in 2014,” she said.

Ms. Ragunathan said students need to dream big to achieve what they want. “You are embarking on a journey which will be grilling, rigorous but filled with joy and happiness. As I look back, I see so many challenges that I had to face; resilience was an important trait I held onto. Perseverance and the thirst to know more helped me, and I learnt not just music but life lessons too,” she added.

N. Murali, president of the Music Academy, said the school was formed in 2010 with the main aim to produce musicians and performers of calibre. “The students of the Advanced School of Carnatic Music have now become good performers at various forums. The school started as an experiment, but it has been firmly established, and over the last 12 years, it has made great strides,” he added.