Mysuru: The current situation where the artiste has to himself or herself apply for an award to the Government is really a sad state of affairs, said JSS Sangeetha Sammelana President Vidwan Dr. K. Vageesh. He was speaking at the five-day 25th JSS Sangeetha Sammelana organised by JSS Sangeetha Sabha Trust and Kannada and Culture Department at JSS Women’s College auditorium in Saraswathipuram, here yesterday.

Instead of the State Government inviting applications from the artistes, it should itself identify deserving persons and give the awards. The fact that the Government is calling for application is an insult to the artiste, he said expressing his dissatisfaction.

The music field has progressed a lot in the current age and it continues to grow. For any art form to grow, new experiments, thinking and ideas are important. It is the responsibility of the artistes to keep the youth and the audience in mind and satisfy them, he said.

As the youth are into social media, they need to use this form to develop music. Since the schools and colleges are encouraging the students to take up music, they have the possibilities of shaping their future in this field.

The responsibility lies with the scholars of music, audience and the students to maintain the purity of classical music, felt the Sammelana President Dr. Vageesh.

It is a heartening sign to see the parents encourage their children to take up music education. However, what is of concern is to watch them concentrating only on sending their wards to competitions. Hence, along with music education, it is important for the parents and the teachers to inculcate values and culture in the children, he said.

‘Sangeetha Sevanidhi’ award was presented to art patron Madhuri Thathachari while achievers Vid. Narayana Iyengar (vocal), Vid. K.U. Raghavendra Rao (flute) and Vid. M. Lakshman (Nadaswara) were also felicitated. Later, Dr. Vageesh presented a vocal recital along with B.K. Raghu on violin, B.C. Manjunath on mridanga and Narayanamurthy on ghata.