Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Tuesday conferred ‘Lifetime Achievement Award on septuagenarian musician Lou Majaw during the launch of ‘Meghalaya Grassroots Music Project’, an initiative to promote music in the state.
The Meghalaya Grassroots Music Project is a unique programme of the government that would recognise and promote music talents in the hill state.
Under the project, the state government would support gigs and music shows across Meghalaya.
It would also provide a platform for the musicians to showcase their talents. Through this programme, the government would also support artistes for tours outside the state.
Some of the unique features of this intervention include street performance platforms, wherein artistes would perform in different public spaces being created by the government, and the music cafe platform, wherein artistes would get the opportunity to perform in different cafes across the State.
Speaking at the launch of the project, the Chief Minister said, “We conceptualised this programme to encourage and provide a platform to our musicians and link it up with tourism.”
Stressing on the need to further leverage the music scene in Meghalaya, which is branded as the ‘rock capital of India’, the Chief Minister said that through this programme, the state government would launch a series of events of different genres, which would be promoted to attract tourists.
“We strongly believe that the youth of our state would be engaged through this programme. The project would give them the opportunity to unleash their musical talents,” Sangma said.
He added that the project would ensure a positive change in the mindset of the youth, who will take up music as a career.
–IANS