Clarinet player Pt. Narasimhalu Vadavati, a Raichur-based Hindustani musician, has been selected for the T. Chowdiah National Award for 2019-20. As per sources in the Department of Kannada and Culture, he will be honoured with the award at Ravindra Kalakshetra in Bengaluru on Wednesday by Kannada and Culture Minister V. Sunil Kumar.
Pt. Vadavati is the first musician who successfully adapted the clarinet, a western instrument, to Hindustani classical music. He has had a long and distinguished career as a concert and recording artiste, composer, director and teacher.
The International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, United Kingdom, has listed him in its International Who’s Who in music. His fame shot to new heights when he directed music for the award-winning French film, Haathi, directed by Philip Gorte.
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Considering his achievements in the field, Pt. Vadavati was invited to serve as a visiting professor at the World Music Centre in California for six years from 1998.
Born into a musically talented family in 1942 in Vadavati, a small village close to Raichur, Pt. Vadavati received good support from his grandfather Obalappa, a Shehnai artiste, his father Buddappa, a tabla player, and his mother Rangamma, singer.
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Later, he learnt Hindustani music from his Guru Pt. Siddarama Jambaladinni, a renowned Hindustani vocalist from Raichur who was known for presenting Vachanas in Hindustani music format combining Jaipur and Gwalior gharanas that he learnt from Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur and Pt. Panchakshari Gawai, respectively.