Rezwana Choudhury Bannya to receive Feroza Begum Award

With the aim to instill the ideals of legendary singer Feroza Begum in young music enthusiasts, Dhaka University initiated the Feroza Begum Memorial Trust Fund last year. Under the fund, the authorities introduced the prestigious Feroza Begum Memorial Award and granted scholarships to students of music at Dhaka University. This year, emminent Rabindra Sangeet singer Rezwana Choudhury Bannya has been selected for the Feroza Begum Memorial Award. AAMS Arefin Siddique, vice chancellor of Dhaka University, will confer the award to the celebrated singer at a ceremony to be held at the Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban on July 27. Dr M Kamal Uddin, treasurer of DU, Professor Dr Abu M Delwar Hossain, dean of the Arts Faculty, Dr Mohsina Akter Khanom (Leena Taposhi) and Anis ud Dowla, chairman of ACI Foundation and donor of the Feroza Begum Trust will grace the event. A cultural program will take place after Bannya reveives the award. The event will be broadcast live on Channel i. Last year, Sabina Yesmin was presented with the first Feroza Begum Award. Bannya, one of the finest Rabindra Sangeet singers of the contemporary period, has played a significant role in popularising Rabindra Sangeet simultaneously at home and abroad. During her studies at the Visva-Bharati University in Shantiniketan, Bannya was mentored by the likes of Kanika Bandopadhyay, Nilima Sen, Ashesh Bandopadhyay, and Santidev Ghosh. In 2002, she was honoured with the Ananda Sangeet Puroshkar for being the best female Rabindra Sangeet artist. Bannya also received the Sangeet Samman Puroshkar from the Ministry of Culture, India, in 2013. Bannya found a musical school called Shurer Dhara in 1992, in Dhaka, and she is currently serving as a faculty member of music at Dhaka University. She has spent the last 35 years bringing Tagore’s music and its message to the world through concerts, lectures and recordings.