SHILLONG, March 6: Meghalaya’s musicologist and historian, known for her efforts in promoting Khasi music tradition – Padmashri Helen Giri has been selected for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puruskar) 2023 under folk and traditional music.
A former faculty member at NEHU, she is a member of the executive council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
She is known to have contributed to the restoration of traditional Khasi musical instruments and has instituted a scholarship fund at the Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong for the promotion of Khasi music.
She assisted in the establishment of 35 traditional music institutes and organised music festivals, besides working for the rehabilitation of differently-abled children.
She authored Khasi Under British Rule, 1824-1947, a historical narrative of Khasi life during the pre-independence period.
The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2008, for her contributions to Khasi music
The General Council of Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, New Delhi, at its meeting held on February 2024 had unanimously elected six eminent personalities in the field of performing arts as Akademi Fellows (Akademi Ratna).
The six artists include Vinayak Khedekar, R. Visweswaran, Sunayana Hazarilal, Raja and Radha Reddy, Dulal Roy, and D P Sinha.
The general council also selected 92 artists from the field of music, dance, theatre, traditional/folk/tribal music/dance/ theatre, puppetry, and overall contribution/scholarship in the performing arts for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) for the years 2022 and 2023.
The fellows and awardees so selected represent the nation as a whole and belong to different states and union territories. Besides, these eminent artists cover the entire gamut of performing arts forms expressed in the form of music, dance, drama, folk and tribal art, puppetry, and allied theatre art forms, etc. The general council of the Akademi has also selected 80 young artists for Sangeet Natak Akademi Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for the years 2022 and 2023.
The Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar carries purse money of Rs 25,000 besides a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.
These awards will be conferred by the Chairman, Sangeet Natak Akademi in a special ceremony.
