KARNATAKA KALASHREE Late VIDWAN SRI A. V. Prakash
Vid A. V. Prakash was a multi-faceted musician respected equally
by musicians and music lovers. He was a much sought-after performer, a guru who taught world-class musicians and an organizer who was the
backbone of Tyagaraja Sangeetha Sabha, an organization he founded to celebrate the talent of musicians from Karnataka.
Training and lineage
Vid A. V. Prakash was the son and disciple of Ganakala Rathna Vid A. K. Muthanna, a well-known violinist from Karnataka. After receiving his initial training from his father, he honed his artistry under Vid T. R. Krishnamurthy and Prof. R. Vishweshwaran. He also had the good fortune of being guided by the flute maestro Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. N. Ramani.
As a performer
Vid A. V. Prakash performed all over India and abroad for more than six decades. He was a ‘B high’ Grade Artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan. Sabhas at Mysore, Bangalore and Chennai featured the concerts of Vid A. V. Prakash regularly in their music festivals.
Notable performances
- The Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai where he was adjudged the “Best Flautist” for the year 1987-1988 on the occasion of its 55th South Indian Music Festival.
- Performance and demonstration on flute at Indira Gandhi Rashtreeya Maanava Sangrahalaya, Bhopal in 1996.
- Performance at the Durbar Hall at the Mysore palace on the occasion of the Mysore Dasara Festival.
- Performance before the invitees of SAARC countries at Sri Narasimha Hall On November 11th, 1986 at Bangalore organised by All India Radio.
Awards and honours
- Venuvadana Vichakshana (Lalitakala Academy, Bangalore – 1986)
- Venuvadana Visharada (Shri Suttur Deshikendra Swamiji, Mysore)
- Best Flautist (The Indian Fine Arts Society, Madras, 1987-88)
- Varshada Kalavida (Artist of the year – 2001, Bangalore Gayana Samaja). Honourble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Sri S M Krishna felicitated him on this Occasion.
- Kalajyothi (Nadajyoti Shri Tyagaraja Bhajana Sabha, Bangalore, 40th Nadajyothi Music Festival, 2005)
- Artist of the year 2004—05 (The Karnataka Sangeetha Nrithya Academy, Bangalore).
- Artist of the year (Ganakala Parishath, at the annual conference held at Holenarasipura in 2008).
Organisations that have honoured Vid A. V. Prakash
- Mysore District Kannada Sahithya Parishath, on the occasion of Kannada Rajyotsava.
- Lalita kala Academy, Bangalore.
- Rotary Club, Mysore.
- Lions Club, Mysore.
- Shri Tyagaraaja Sangeetha Sabha
- Adarsha Seva Sangha and various other organisations.
- Shri Shringeri Swamiji.
His performances abroad
Vid A. V. Prakash travelled abroad very frequently for concerts. His concerts and demonstrations were very well – received in France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Holland, Britain, Finland, Russia, Muscat, Dubai, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Srilanka and many other countries. While he was on concert tours, he also trained quite a few citizens from these countries to play the flute in a short span of time.
As a Guru
Vid. A. V. Prakash was a highly sought after guru. Several of his disciples bagged the first prize in the prestigious All India Radio national level annual music competitions in both the flute and veena categories. Many of his disciples secured scholarships from Government bodies like Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) and the Department of Culture while learning under him. He was also chosen by the South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC), Nagpur, to train students under the Guru – Shishya Parampara scheme. Today, several of his disciples are performers and gurus of high acclaim – T R Srinath, H S Venugopal, V K Raman, Balu Masti, Bhavani Prakash, Jayaram Kikkeri, A P Krishna Prasad, Smitha Srikiran, Rakesh Sudhir, K N Shivkumar, Bharathraj – to name a few.