Shankar Mahadevan felicitated with honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University for outstanding contribution to music

Shankar Mahadevan with Ustad Zakir Hussain, also attended the felicitation, Pic/Instagram

Indian singer and composer Shankar Mahadevan was felicitated with an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University (BCU) for his outstanding contribution to the fields of music and the arts. There ceremony was hosted at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on June 23.

Shankar Mahadevan spoke exclusively to ANI after receiving his award. He talked about how honoured he felt that such an award was being conferred upon him, and how this inspired him to work even harder to create beautiful compositions and introduce more people to the ethos of Indian classical music.

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"This is truly special, I feel privileged, I feel honoured and this is just the result of body of work that I have done. All I can say is that this is an occasion which tells that I need to work even harder, come up with even more beautiful songs and spread the joy of music which is Indian classical music all around the world," he said.

Andy Street, the mayor of West Midlands County in the UK, made the announcement during a trade mission event in Mumbai in November last year. Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain and revered guitarist John McLaughlin were also in attendance at the event.

The singer added, "When an honorary doctorate like this is conferred upon an artist that you look up to then you've a goal to achieve. The youngster feel that their dreams are coming true in front of their eyes. They also start working hard and they would also like to achieve and would like to reach possibly where I reached today. I used to look up at maestros like John McLaughlin and Ustaad Zakir Hussain like they have come to confer this upon me. So it's nice to set a kind example for the next generation."

After the formal ceremony, the students of Birmingham City University performed the songs composed by the singer like ‘Mitwa' from ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.' Much to the young choir's surprise and delight, the three musical legends joined them on-stage to engage the audience in an array of Bollywood songs. Mahadevan also performed his classical track, ‘Breathless.'

Shankar Mahadevan is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. He has lent his voice to the Hindi, Tamil and Marathi film industry and been part of timeless album soundtracks such as Dil Chahta Hai, Taare Zameen Par, Rock On and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. He is known for his versatile abilities and hit tracks like ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam', ‘Uff Teri Ada', ‘Tere Naina', and ‘Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe' among others.

(with inputs from ANI)