CHANDIGARH: Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi has chosen local musician Prof. Harvinder Singh for the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 2022 for his contribution in the field of Hindustani classical music. This honour will be given to Prof. Harvinder Singh by the President of India in a special program to be organized at New Delhi.
Prof. Harvinder Singh thanked Sangeet Natak Akademi and Government of India for conferring upon him the most prestigious award in performing arts. He dedicated this award to all his musical mentors. He attributed this honour to the education given by his gurus and the years of rigorous training and Riyaz done by him. This honour is indeed an honour to the ancient traditions of India and of course the Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiyat.
It is pertinent to mention here that since these awards started by the Government of India in 1952, Prof. Harvinder Singh is the second Sikh to receive this honour in Hindustani Classical Music. Before him, this honour was given only to Singh Bandhu. The importance of Hindustani Classical Music in Sikhism can be known from the fact that Guru Nanak Dev ji gave the foremost place to Indian Raga music in his Bani.
Prof. Harvinder Singh received his initial musical education from his father Bhai Santa Singh. He received formal musical education from ‘Khalifa’ of Agra Gharana, Ustad Yunus Hussain Khan and Pandit Yashpal ‘Sagun Piya’. Apart from them, he learned the nuances of music from the well-known musicians of Gwalior Gharana, Pandit Laxman Krishnarao Pandit and Pandit Atma Prakash Sharma.
He has given performances at many prestigious music festivals in India and abroad, including Tansen Music Festival, Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan, All India Bhaskar Rao Music and Dance Festival, etc. He has been conferred with awards such as Sangeet Manishi, Kala Shree, Honour by legislative assembly of Alberta, etc. He recently retired as Head of Department in Music feom Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 11, Chandigarh.