Carnatic vocalist Tadepalli Lokanatha Sarma will receive the Sadguru Sangeetha Vidwanmani award in Vijayawada on 22 November 2026, on the closing night of Sadguru Sangeetha Sabha’s 33rd annual music festival. The honour marks more than six decades in Carnatic music, as a singer, a teacher and a researcher.
It caps a year of recognition. At Ugadi in March, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu presented him with Andhra Pradesh’s Kala Ratna (Hamsa) award at Tummalapalli Kalakshetram, one of 161 awards given that day across the arts.
Who is Tadepalli Lokanatha Sarma?
Tadepalli Lokanatha Sarma is a Carnatic vocalist and teacher from Tenali, Andhra Pradesh, born in 1945. He learnt first from his father, Tadepalli Venkata Subrahmanya Sastri, and then from Chittoor Subramania Pillai, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Tiruppamburam Swaminatha Pillai and T. Brinda. He is known as much for his teaching and research as for his concerts.
Of those gurus, Chittoor Subramania Pillai shaped him most. Pillai, who received the Music Academy’s Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1954, was known for rhythmic complexity and long, searching explorations of a raga, and it was under him that Sarma did his advanced training.
Away from the stage, he founded the Suswara Trust to support young musicians and to archive classical compositions. He has set to music works by the composers Purandaradasa, Annamacharya and Bhadrachala Ramadasu, and holds a doctorate from the University of Mysore. His earlier honours include Tamil Nadu’s Kalaimamani and the Indian Fine Arts Society’s Sangeetha Kalasikhamani, which he received in 2015.
When is the Sadguru Sangeetha Sabha festival?
The Sadguru Sangeetha Sabha’s 33rd annual music festival runs from 16 to 22 November 2026 at the Gokaraju Laila Gangaraju Kala Vedika, inside the Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao Government College of Music and Dance at Durgapuram, Vijayawada. The sabha has presented its Vidwanmani award to senior Carnatic musicians for more than three decades, and Tadepalli Lokanatha Sarma joins that list this year.
More Carnatic music is on the way this winter: the Chennai Margazhi Music Season 2026 to 27 and the Kalakshetra 73rd Annual Art Festival are both on our calendar. Read more awards and honours news, or see every upcoming concert on News & Concerts.
Sources: Deccan Chronicle, on the Vidwanmani award; Deccan Chronicle, on the Kala Ratna 2026; Adileela Foundation profile; Sangeetha Kalasikhamani recipients