<p class="bodytext">Bengalurean vocalist Lalith J Rao joins an elite group of musicians to be honoured with the prestigious Gurumaa Annapurna Devi Award.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The award, instituted by Mumbai-based Annapurna Devi Foundation, will be presented at her house in Malleswaram on November 29.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Previous recipients are Asha Bhosle, Manik Bhide, Prabha Atre and N Rajam. The award is presented in memory of Annapurna Devi, the reclusive genius who played the surbahar.</p>.Kadlekai Parishe 2024: All you need to know about Bengaluru's unique groundnut festival.<p class="bodytext">Lalith Rao was drawn to the Agra gharana when, as a three-year-old, she listened to Ustad Faiyaz Khan at an all-night concert. Her music blossomed under two gurus — Pt Ramarao Naik in Bengaluru and Ustad Khadim Husain Khan in Mumbai. She learnt from the two masters, with a transition year under Pt Dinkar Kaikini in Delhi.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Simultaneously, Lalith Rao graduated in engineering. She set aside a brilliant career in biomedical electronics to take up music full time. With her performances, teaching and recording, she excelled in a style often labelled ‘difficult’, and ‘meant only for men’.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She was regularly featured on radio and television as a top-grade artiste, and recorded under such labels <br />as Navras of London and Ocora Radio France.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Her archival projects for the ethno-musicology department of University of Washington in Seattle and ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata are among her many contributions to the world of Hindustani music. Jayavanth Rao, her husband, is the author of ‘Sajan Piya’, a biography of Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan.</p>
<p class="bodytext">Bengalurean vocalist Lalith J Rao joins an elite group of musicians to be honoured with the prestigious Gurumaa Annapurna Devi Award.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The award, instituted by Mumbai-based Annapurna Devi Foundation, will be presented at her house in Malleswaram on November 29.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Previous recipients are Asha Bhosle, Manik Bhide, Prabha Atre and N Rajam. The award is presented in memory of Annapurna Devi, the reclusive genius who played the surbahar.</p>.Kadlekai Parishe 2024: All you need to know about Bengaluru's unique groundnut festival.<p class="bodytext">Lalith Rao was drawn to the Agra gharana when, as a three-year-old, she listened to Ustad Faiyaz Khan at an all-night concert. Her music blossomed under two gurus — Pt Ramarao Naik in Bengaluru and Ustad Khadim Husain Khan in Mumbai. She learnt from the two masters, with a transition year under Pt Dinkar Kaikini in Delhi.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Simultaneously, Lalith Rao graduated in engineering. She set aside a brilliant career in biomedical electronics to take up music full time. With her performances, teaching and recording, she excelled in a style often labelled ‘difficult’, and ‘meant only for men’.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She was regularly featured on radio and television as a top-grade artiste, and recorded under such labels <br />as Navras of London and Ocora Radio France.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Her archival projects for the ethno-musicology department of University of Washington in Seattle and ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata are among her many contributions to the world of Hindustani music. Jayavanth Rao, her husband, is the author of ‘Sajan Piya’, a biography of Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan.</p>