New Hindustani Vocal category in music competition

THE National Arts Council’s (NAC) eighth edition of the National Indian Music Competition (NIMC) will be open to all.

The triennial competition is Singapore’s key national platform to identify and develop talented musicians in the Indian classical music scene.

This year, for the first time, NIMC will introduce a new category for Hindustani Vocal in the competition, to reach out to more individuals who specialise in vocals in the Indian classical music scene.

Selected participants across the eight Indian instrument categories will get to showcase their musical ability before an international panel of judges, as well as perform in the final Prize Winners’ Concert on June 21.

The competition will take place from June 16 to 22 and will be held at the School Of The Arts’ Drama Theatre.

This year, the prize money in the competition will increase for all winners across the categories (up to $2,000 for Open Category first prize winners) to promote greater participation.

NAC’s director for sector development Elaine Ng said: “Indian music and culture remain a strong part of our Singapore heritage, and the NIMC is an important and prestigious platform for us to celebrate our tradition through musical talent and excellence.

“The competition is also evolving to accommodate growing interest in the Indian music sector. For example, we have expanded our competition to include new categories, as we have observed that there is an increase in the number of people and students practising Hindustani Vocal in recent years. We hope to continually raise competition standards, as well as drive greater interest among new audiences.”

Registration for the competition is open till March 21. Interested participants can apply for the competition at http://nac.gov.sg/nimc

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