For the second year in a row, a tabla player playing traditional Indian music has received a perfect score in VCE music. Melbourne Tabla School student Sankeert Kapatkar received the score on Wednesday morning with delight.
“I just opened the computer and there it was. I woke my parents up to tell them, it was pretty exciting,” says Sankeert, who completed his music exam as a Year 11 student at Melbourne High School. His tabla performance exam was part of the music investigation stream in VCE music. He will complete the rest of his VCE subjects in 2021.
“I’ve been playing tabla for about 10 years and I thought I would give it a go,” says Sankeert, whose hard work has obviously paid off.
With this, Sankeert becomes the second person in the VCE history to gain a perfect score on a non-western instrument.
“It’s a fantastic validation of Indian music,” says Dr Sam Evans, Sankeert’s teacher and director of Melbourne Tabla School. “It really says Indian music is important and valuable in our society. Beyond statements about Indian culture being part of Australian society, this is placing an actual value on it that changes the student’s higher education opportunities.”
Sankeert says the score gives him the head start he was looking for going into the rest of his exams next year. “I will certainly spend the summer with a big smile on my face.”
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