University of Hyderabad has got the best gift on the occasion of Teacher’s Day in the form of inauguration of Music Department at Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication. Even though all the paperwork was done for the establishment of Music Department, a formal launch was planned on September 5th, 2019. Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile gave an inspiring speech on the occasion of inauguration. This comes as an icing on the cake after University of Hyderabad was declared as an Institute of Eminence by Ministry of Human Resource Development.

S N School currently houses Dept of Communication, Dept of Fine Arts, Dept of Theatre and Dept of Dance. Music Department will be the vital last piece in the mosaic of S N School which would make it complete and give a wholesome experience. Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile said University of Hyderabad is one of the few institutes in India which is excelling in Arts, Sciences and Technology.

Prominent musicians Padma Shri Subha Mudgal and Dr. Aneesh Pradhan took part in the inauguration function and congratulated UoH for starting Dept of Music. A lecture in the form of Q&A session was organised by the guest invitees who discussed the trajectories of Music Education in India.

Music is one of the few disciplines which still preserves the tradition of Guru-Shishya parampara. A department in one of the leading institutes will give the required research rigour while maintaining the tradition of Guru-Shishya. India, which is rich in music knowledge ranks very low in music research in the world. An institutional approach towards will help develop research methodology and by virtue of being in a multidisciplinary university like UoH develops interdisciplinary approach towards music education. Ragamala paintings from medieval India is a classic amalgamation of Indian art, poetry and classical music. Subha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan said theory and practice should be integrated in India and it is the duty of the scholarship to convert information into knowledge and inturn into wisdom.

Subha Mudgal who was a part of the Central Advisory Board of Education advocated for introduction of liberal arts at school level. Music is pervasive and breaking into all other fields, it is vital to understand the dynamics of these interactions. Over generations many new art forms arised due to interactions between various art forms. Electronically Developed Music (EDM) genre is an example in this regard where technology interacted with music. Musicians should strive to invest in studying music from a second language to enrich their current music knowledge. This gets prominence because of the diversity in India and a need to unify music.

by Lokesh Naik, Department of Communication, UoH.