Legendary Naga Musician Moa Subong received the Padma Shri Award from the President of India, Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday at the second Investiture Ceremony held with grandeur in Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in new Delhi.
Subong is a professional musician, music composer, actor, audio and video editor and an inventor of 2 musical instruments, Bamhum and Tikzik.
Born on 8 September 1960, Moa’s most noted accomplishment and contribution to the nation is his invention of a new wind Indian musical instrument called Bamhum which was unveiled by the then Governor of Meghalaya, M.M. Jacob on 3 May 2005 at Shillong during the International Bamboo Festival and for which he also received the National Award from the then President of India Pranab Mukherjee.
Tikzik, the other musical instrument invented by him was unveiled by Lipokmar Tzudir, Director NEZCC on 2 May 2014. It is a new bamboo percussion that produces multiple sounds.
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Moa and his spouse Guru Arena Subong formed a Naga Folk Fusion band called Abiogenesis. Together they have evolved n new form of Naga music called Howey music which is a fusion of Naga and other Indian folk with various forms of modern rhythms.
Abiogenesis has performed in 8 countries – Finland, Estonia, Thailand, India, Russia, Bhutan, Tunisia and Myanmar including an exclusive performance for Bhutan Royal family on 15 August 2011 at the Indian Embassy. Thimpu and to 160 Consul Generals at the Raj Bhawan, Mumbai on 16th November 2013.
The band is empanelled by ICCR, NEZCC, Festival of India (ICR). He was selected in the Innovation Scholars in- Residence-Programme (4th Batch) where he was one of the very privileged few to reside in Rashtrapati Bhavan from 3rd March to 18th March 2017. He served as the Director of Music, Mokokchung District Art & Culture Council (MDACC) for 4 years, 1996 to 2000, and is a founding member of MDACC. He served as Vice President of Mokokchung District Table Tennis Association for 3 years – 1996 to 1999. He was inducted ns Programme Committee Member of NEZCC for three years from 27 July 2020.
Moa has received a number of awards. He received National Award from the President of India on 4 March 2017 for his invention of the Bamhum at the Ninth National Grassroots Technological innovations & Traditional Knowledge Awards. His Abiogenesis received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Music on 26 January 2017 at Raj Bhavan, Kohima. Abiogenesis received the Pride of North East Award from Global University, Guwahati on 7 February 2020. Moa and Arenla were awarded by the Deputy Commissioner for Mokokchung District on the occasion of Nagaland’s Statehood Golden Jubilee in recognition of their excellence performances and innovative contributions to the district in the field of music.
We’re so Proud!#NorthEast🇮🇳
Hon’ble President #DroupadiMurmu conferred the #PadmaShri2023 in the field of Art to Shri Moa Subong. pic.twitter.com/36q4K53ZnF
— MDoNER India (@MDoNER_India) April 5, 2023
(Sourced from PIB)
