CHENNAI, December 2: The 82nd annual conference and concerts of The Music Academy will get under way here on December 15. The Vice-President of India, Mr. M. Hamid Ansari, will be the chief guest at the inauguration of this year's festival. The Governor of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Surjit Singh Barnala, will preside over the inaugural function. Vidwan A.K.C. Natarajan will be conferred the title Sangita Kalanidhi on January 1 at the Sadas.

The Sangita Kala Acharya Award will be conferred on dancer Sarada Hoffman, a disciple of Rukmini Devi Arundale.

The Dance Festival 2009 will begin on January 3. It will be inaugurated by the Consul- General of the Consulate-General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Chennai, Mr. Roland Herrman. The dance festival schedule is given below:

January 03, 2008 (SAT)
06.00 PM	Alarmel Vallai
07.45 PM	"Vivarta - Manifestation of Vishnu" - bharatanatyam by Sampradaya Dance Creations of Lata Pada (Toronta, Canada)
January 04, 2008 (SUN)
10.00 AM	Prerana Srimali (Kathak)
11.30 AM	Meenakshi Srinivasan
06.00 PM	Malavika Sarukkai (Darisanam- Encounters with the Divine)
07.45 PM	Seethayanam - Mohiniyattam - Bharatanjali of Dr. Neena Prassad
January 05, 2008 (MON)
10.00 AM	Navtej S. Johar - "Meenakshi" - bharatanatyam
11.30 AM	Narthaki Nataraj
06.00 PM	Sreelatha Vinod
07.45 PM	"Sri Leela Ganapathy" - Kuchipudi Arts Academy of Vempatti Chinna Satyam
January 06, 2008 (TUE)
10.00 AM	Sujatha Mahapatra (odissi)
11.30 AM	Mythili Prakash
06.00 PM	Priyadarshini Govind
07.45 PM	"Dussasana Vadham" - Kathakali Kerala Kalamandalam
January 07, 2008 (WED)
10.00 AM	Kapila venu "Sita Parityagam" (nangir koothu)
11.30 AM	Shijith Nambiar
06.00 PM	Shridhar & Anuradha Shridhar - Mahabharatam
07.45 PM	"Sri Krishna Jananam" (bhagavatham) - bharatanatyam by Bharata Kalanjali of the Dhananjayans
January 08, 2008 (THU)
10.00 AM	Vyjayanthimala Bali - "Sri Krishna Jananam" - Ragam, thanam and pallavi bharathanatyam
11.30 AM	Vedantham Ventata Naga Chalapathy Rao (kuchipudi)
06.00 PM	Mavin Khoo
07.45 PM	"Pallavi" - Odissi by Sutra Dance Theatre of Ramli Irbrahim (Malaysia)
January 09, 2008 (FRI)
10.00 AM	Dr. Padma Subrahmaniam & artistes of Nrithyodaya
11.30 AM	Swetha Vijayaraghavan
06.00 PM	Rama Vaidyanathan
07.45 PM	"Kurmavatham" by Kalakshetra