16th February 2021 at Sri Shanmukhnanda Hall, Mumbai, 5.30pm onwards.
Announcement of new young winners and evening followed by scintillating
performances by artists: Arya Ambekar, Pooja Gaitonde, Ankita Joshi, S. Akash,
Shikhar Naad Qureshi, Ojas Adhiya and Ramakant Gaikwad.
Maestros of Music Industry come together to adjudge the winner
SJNMA operates under the Guidance of its Advisory Board comprising luminaries from the Music & Film Industry. Our juries so far have been eminent people as Pt Jasraj, Hariharan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Dr L Subramanium, Shankar Mahadevan, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Roopkumar Rathod, Soonali Rathod, Shashi Vyas and Vijay Darda.
It has been six years since the Lokmat Sur Jyotsna National Music Awards (SJNMA) made its debut in the memory of Late Smt. Jyotsna Darda. It is one of the most definitive platforms that honour aspiring young talent in Indian Classical & Popular music.
Sur Jyotsna Anthem created by renowned lyricist Javed Akhtar.
Composed by Lalit Pandit and sung by the maestros Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik.
The Anthem is about diversity of Indian Music and how Sur Jyotsna is supporting in
recognising these genres and talent.
Sur Jyotsna National Music Awards (SJNMA) is one of the most definitive platforms that honour aspiring young talent in Indian Classical & Popular music. Instituted by the Lokmat Media Group in memory of Late Smt. Jyotsna Darda, SJNMA’s mission is to identify and recognize music talent at the National level.
Late Smt. Jyotsna Darda led her life in simplicity. Behind her quiet and unassuming demeanor hid a lady with strong will power and determination to make a difference in two fields – women’s empowerment and music. She started the Sakhi movement across Maharashtra and Goa leading to a community of over 2.5 lac women. A connoisseur of music, she practiced the art till the end. She found the Jawaharlal Darda Sangeet Kala Academy at Nagpur to provide a platform to students keen to learn music. The academy trains students from all strata of the society, some of whom have become known faces in the field of music. In recognition to her devotion to music, Sur Jyotsna National Music Award was instituted in March 2014 on her first death anniversary.
Conceptualized in the year 2014, 'Sur Jyotsna' is a ‘Vichar’, a thought to encourage and promote Indian Abhijaat Sangeet. It aims at recognising the budding talents who hold potential to generate large-scale impact in the field of music in India and world. It is an endeavor nurture the rich culture of Indian music and pass on it to the younger generation.
Instituted in the memory of music expert & connoisseur Smt. Jyotsna Darda, the Sur Jyotsna National Music Awards is meant for young, talented, upcoming and highly creative/innovative singers/instrumentalists between the age group of 12 and 25 years.
Sur Jyotsna National Musical Awards is given to the talents who have mastered the art of India's sangeet or traditional music with a global appeal. They should be performers with the highest creative artistry from any genre of music - Indian classical music (Hindustani and Carnatic both), spiritual, ghazal, folk, sufi, semi-classical and Bollywood music in vocal space. In the instrumental space, which will also include percussion instruments, the genres could be Indian classical music (Hindustani and Carnatic both), semi-classical, folk, etc.
The Sur Jyotsna National Music Awards committee believes that these awards would encourage, motivate and inspire the youngsters to innovate and create a great piece of work in Indian music and make an impact both nationally and internationally.
The criteria for the selection and condition for eligibility would be as follows:
An eminent Jury Board comprising distinguished singers, music experts, composers from the field of music will select the winners. The Jury Board will have unrestricted power to select the awardees. They will scout talent through multiple sources and decide on 2 winners who would be honored with the coveted awards. The winners will be given a trophy and prize money.
Every year, the awards distribution ceremony is held in Nagpur (Maharashtra) in the presence of eminent personalities & dignitaries from different fields, including art, culture and music. Although the final awards distribution ceremony takes place in Nagpur every year, the Sur Jyotsna concept is promoted in multiple cities of the country and world by holding grand events through digital and other media.
All rights regarding the awards are reserved with the Sur Jyotsna National Music Awards Committee.
Born into a family of musicians hailing from Rajasthan, Roopkumar Rathod continues the tradition steeped deep into marvels of Indian classical music. He was the most sought after tabla player at the age of 18, in the early 80's. Roopkumar’s voice can be best described as a touch of velvet which elevates to melodious memorization and takes you into a dream-like state. His voice captures the emotion of each song that he has sung, especially for Bollywood.
This versatile singer actually has a plethora of talent and has a wide repertoire of music including Ghazals, Bhajans, Sufi, Light Classical music, as well as his playback singing achievements.
Sunali Rathod is a well renowned playback singer and trained in Indian Classical from Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar. At the age of 18, she released her first EP record of Gujarati song with HMV. She also won the Best Ghazal singer award in 1987 by Emirates International in Dubai for her debut album ‘Aaghaaz’. She has love for all kinds of music and sings in languages like Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, English, Telugu etc..
A Chartered Accountant by profession and founder of Pancham Nishad, he has inherited rich classical music tradition from his father Pandmabhushan Pandit C. R. Vyas and is known for his efforts in popularizing Indian classical music.
Gauri Yadwadkar is a Nagpur University double post graduate in Science and Fine Arts. Currently based out of Mumbai, she works as Head - A & R at Times Music, Times of India Group. Well-Known as a Musicologist, Gauri has donned many hats- that of a singer, actor, writer, documentary maker, TV presenter, RJ & a columnist.She also has a popular podcast of her stories.
Vijay Darda, a three-time member of the Rajya Sabha, is one of the pioneering journalists of India. He is the recipient of the prestigious Feroze Gandhi Memorial Award (1990-91) for excellence in journalism. As chairman of Editorial Board of Lokmat Media Private Limited, and IBN-Lokmat news channel and a people’s representative, he has been the voice of the people through his parliamentary work and writings. He also served as a member of the Press Council of India and contributed to the development of the journalism. A connoisseur of art and sports, he is instrumental in setting up of several art and sports organisations. A prolific writer, thinker and political commentator, Darda has several books to his credit.
He is the Managing Director of Lokmat Media Group. Mr. Darda is the President of Jawaharlal Darda Education Society, which runs several schools and a graduate college of engineering and technology. He sits on the executive council of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, South Asian Regional Committee of IFRA, a global body for printing and paper, INCA-FIEJ Research Association and executive committee of Western India Football Association. He was part of the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's delegation to Havana, Cuba for the NAM Summit and Brasilia, Brazil for the IBSA Summits. Mr. Darda’s keen interest in music has led to his active involvement in SJNMA.