Here is the result you've been waiting for: The judge selected 68 winners from the contestants Hindu 2025 Margazhi Music Competition.
This year, over 1,500 entries were received, many of whom were doing well, and the panel of judges chose to choose additional consolation prizes.
Videos of Carnatic and Hindustani music practitioners are sent below these categories – children (under 12 years old), junior (13-19 years old) and senior (20-40 years old). Indian Oil Company Limited (IOCL) is the deputy sponsor of the competition.
Musician and senior singer Prema Rangarajan said students who send entries should take competition very seriously, especially juniors. They should practice well. “The senior participants performed much better. I saw good talent this year…”
Lalita Sharma's Hindustan singer, Grandma and founder of Swaraangan Hindustani Music in Chennai said she is happy to see an increase in applicants every year. “Some people sing movie songs and think they are classical music. A little bit of homework will be good before applying.”
Senior musicians, Guru and French professor Varalakshmi Anandkumar said year after year, the number of talented candidates is increasing. Indeed, making a decision is a painful experience in the final stages of filtering 300 and more contestants. Due to the lack of shruti boxes, videos and sometimes incorrect introductions, it is even more pitiful to eliminate some talented singers.
“Sometimes, people feel that the primary category of 4-12 can be further divided into 4-8 and 9-12; but even with such a wide range, we see some extraordinary Kutty Vidwans and vidwamsinis, identifying their own identities against their older counterparts,” said Violin Vidhushis and Gurus M. Lalitha and M. Nandhini. Hindu Music competitions are when they take time to listen to other genres and other teachers’ styles as well as the rare Krithis. “It's great to see parents encourage their children to take music seriously and take the time and effort to record and send entries. Playing instruments is very difficult. We just hope these students don't give up on music because of their careers…”
Mridangam Guru Vijayan Bhaskar and founder of Laya Sadhana, who served as judge for the Percussion Academy for the second time, said the quality of the entries is improving over the year. He added: “Although there are more entries than last year, the competition has to attract more teachers and students. Since we judge based on the participants' judgment, we have to listen to each entry a few times before deciding on the winner. Perhaps next year's competition will also graduate from the live performance round,” he added. The winners and consolation prize names can be viewed at https://newsth.live/margazhi.
publishing – May 8, 2025 at 12:32 AM IST
