Noted Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan was on Thursday conferred with Madhya Pradesh government`s National Tansen Award for the year 2001-02 by state chief minister Digvijay Singh. The honour was bestowed on the maestro for his contribution to the Indian classical music by Singh at a function to mark the commencement of the five-day 77th Tansen Festival in Gwalior, organised by Lok Kala Parishad of Madhya Pradesh Department of Culture. The award, carrying Rs one lakh in cash and a plaque, was instituted by the Madhya Pradesh government in 1980. Before the function, the chief minister visited the tombs of Tansen and his guru, Mohammed Ghouse, both located at Hazira locality of the city.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh expressed his government`s commitment to further the cause of music. Singh lauded Amajd Ali Khan`s efforts at preserving the musical traditions set by his father Usad Hafiz Ali Khan and said that not only Gwalior but the whole of Madhya Pradesh was proud of the maestro. Expressing his gratitude for the honour, Amjad Ali Khan appealed to people to set up a corpus fund for teaching music to children and said that if needed the state government can be approached for more financial assistance.
Bureau Report