India’s first ‘complete’ Music Awards in Feb 2010

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

November 27, 2009 - 12:00 AM IST

In continuation to the tradition initiated by the Indian Music Academy, a leading cultural body launched by former President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, founded by Padma Vibhushan Pt. Jasraj and co-founded by Durga Jasraj and Vikram Shankar, India will now have its first complete music awards - the Indian Music Academy Awards -in February 2010 at Mumbai. These awards will redefine the way Indian music and musicians are recognised and honoured in the music industry.

Ever since the Indian Music Academy was launched in 2006 at Mumbai, for two consecutive years former President Dr. Kalam presented the Indian Music Academy's Hall Of Fame Awards to legendary musicians Pandit Ravi Shankar, Lata Mangeshkar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Asha Bhosle, the late Dr. Gangubai Hangal, the late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, maestro Ilayaraja, Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna, Smt. Girja Devi and the late Pandit Kishan Maharaj.

The purpose of the Indian Music Academy Jury Awards is to recognise and reward each genre of music including film music and private albums ranging from Hindustani and Carnatic Classical music (both instrumental and vocal) to traditional Indian music like Folk, Ghazal, Sufi, Qawwali and Bhajans to contemporary Indian music like Indi Hip-Hop, Indipop, Indi-Rock, Indi-Jazz as well as Western music in India.

To ensure that this prestigious award is on par with international standards a leading international auditing firm will supervise the selection process. The jury comprises 27 eminent personalities that will include Hariharan, Leslie Lewis, Pt. Ajay Pohankar, Luke Kenny, Sridhar Parthasarathy, music directors Uttam Singh and Kuldeep Singh, D.J. Nasha and Daman Sood.

For these various genres, nominations are open to personalities and music labels. This prestigious award will be given to all members of the music fraternity in India that include artistes, music directors, lyricists, sound engineers, music labels, music programmers and music producers. The elegibility period is from December 1, 2008 to November 30, 2009. The last date for nomination is November 30.

A noble initiative of Arts & Artistes - the pioneer in the cultural field that works diligently to restore Indian Music and Culture, the Indian Music Academy is a leading cultural body of India launched in 2006. The IMA has Lata Mangeshkar and Pt. Ravi Shankar as its Honorary Patrons, Pt. Jasraj as its Founder Patron and Key Patrons Javed Akhtar, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Dr. Balamurali Krishna, Dr Lalgudi Jayraman, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Asha Bhosle, Pyarelal and Louis Banks. This is a first-of-its-kind national movement of the musicians by the musicians and for the musicians and music lovers whereby artistes across India come together with the mission to promote all genres of Indian music and musicians globally and also nurture young talents. The IMA also provides free medical aid to needy musicians and their dependents besides awarding deserving musicians.

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