Renowned Poet and Translator, Shahnaz Rasheed from north Kashmir’s Sopore, has been selected as one of the recipients of the esteemed SaMaPa awards this year.
The prestigious awards will be presented during the 19th Annual SaMaPa Sangeet Sammelan, a highly regarded classical music festival in Delhi.
This festival is recognized as one of the most esteemed cultural events in the country, and it will take place from November 3 to November 5, 2023 at the Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi.
The announcement of the recipients was made by Pt. Abhay Rustum Sopori, an internationally acclaimed Santoor maestro, composer, and the General Secretary of SaMaPa. SaMaPa, which stands for Sopori Academy of Music and Performing Arts, is a prominent cultural organization and music academy in India.
The SaMaPa awards hold great significance as they are regarded as exclusive national-level honors focused on promoting arts and culture in the Jammu and Kashmir region.
The awards are part of a larger cultural movement initiated by the late Pandit Bhajan Sopori, a distinguished music legend known as the Saint of Santoor and King of Strings.
This year, the SaMaPa Nund Rishi Samman 2023 will be bestowed upon Shri Shahnaz Rasheed from Jammu and Kashmir, recognizing his significant contributions as a Poet and Translator in the field of Kashmiri Literature.
Other notable awards include the SaMaPa Vitasta Samman 2023, which will be conferred upon Pandit Dalchand Sharma, a revered Pakhawaj maestro from Delhi, for his exceptional contributions to Hindustani Classical Music (Pakhawaj).
The SaMaPa Kala Vardhan Samman 2023 will be presented to Dr. Rosalin Patasani Mishra of the Parichay Foundation in Odisha, acknowledging her unparalleled dedication to the field of art and culture.
Furthermore, the SaMaPa Acharya Abhinavgupt Samman 2023 will be bestowed upon Shri Avtar Krishen Mota from Delhi for his substantial contributions as a Writer and Columnist in the domain of Kashmiri art and culture.
The SaMaPa Sangeet Tejasvi Samman 2023 will be jointly awarded to Dr. Prabhakar Kashyap from Chandigarh and Dr. Diwakar Kashyap from Khairagarh, recognizing their remarkable achievements and contributions in the field of Hindustani Classical Music (Vocal).
Shri Viraj Joshi from Pune, the grandson of Bharat Ratna Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, will be honored with the SaMaPa Yuva Ratan Samman 2023 for his exceptional talent and outstanding accomplishments in the field of Hindustani Classical Music (Vocal).
Another significant award, the SaMaPa Award of Excellence 2023, will be presented to Ms. Sadhna Shrivastav, in recognition of her immense contributions to the field of art and culture as a Television and Stage Presenter, as well as a Documentary Filmmaker.
The SaMaPa Award of Excellence aims to honor individuals who have made exceptional contributions in the areas of audio and video production, direction of commercial and non-commercial documentaries and films, sound engineering, scriptwriting, cultural photography, program hosting and emceeing, and instrument making.
