85-year-old Violin Virtuoso Gets Award

Chennai Fine Arts Music Club on Friday conferred on veteran violinist, T N Krishnan, the Gotuvadiyam Narayana Iyengar Award for Excellence during the inaugural function of its 11th year music festival.

The award was presented to Krishnan by the president of TTD Information Centre, Anandakumar Reddy in the presence of veteran sabha organiser, NKT Muthu, who shares over 60 years of professional connection with the awardee.

The violin maestro, whose musical career spans over a period of 80 years, remembered and thanked his gurus for his present position.

He said, “My first duty is to thank my gurus and my parents who have made me what I am today and also all the rasikas who have enjoyed my music all these years.”

Krishnan further expressed that the lineage from which the award came, made it all the more special. He added, “The person after whom the award is named, the great Gotuvadiyum Narayana Iyengar was a contemporary of my father Narayana Iyer’s time and this historic association makes it special.”

Presenting the award, Anandakumar Reddy said, “The maestro was the aasthana vidwan of TTD even 40 years ago, and the opportunity to present this award to him is a great honour.”

A highlight of the function was that the proceedings were kickstarted with an invocation delivered by three-year-old Akshaya who is the great grand daughter of Narayana Iyengar, after whom the award is named.