This Article is From Sep 19, 2014

Into the Musical World of Mandolin Srinivas

Into the Musical World of Mandolin Srinivas

Mr Srinivas was the first to use the Mandolin in Carnatic music.

New Delhi: Famous mandolin player and musician Uppalapu Srinivas, popularly known as Mandolin Srinivas, died in Chennai on September 19, 2014 at a private hospital after a failed liver transplant. He was 45. The maestro is survived by his parents, a brother (also an accomplished Mandolin player) and a sister.

Born in the tiny village of Palakolu, in West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, Uppalapu was considered a child prodigy, who picked up his father Sathyanarayana's mandolin at the age of six and went about his first stage performance at the age of 9 at the Thyagaraja Aradhana Festival in Gudivada in Andhra Pradesh.

Realising his son's potential Mr Srinivas' father became his first tutor. He then moved on to the tutelage of his father's guru, Rudraraju Subbaraju.

Mr Srinivas was the first to use the Mandolin in Carnatic music, despite skepticism over the use of the instrument in the Carnatic School of traditional music. He was among the few who always believed that mandolin as an instrument has a lot of potential.

During his prime, Mr Srinivas had the opportunity to play with some great Indian musicians such as Hariprasad Chaurasia and Zakir Hussain.

Having mastered the electric western instrument to suit the Carnatic traditional music style, Mr Srinivas also teamed up with various western artists such as legendary guitarist John Mclaughlin, among others.

In 1983, Mr Srinivas performed at the JazzFest Berlin and later toured Canada, Australia and many other countries. In 1987 he became the South Indian Carnatic artist to perform at the Cevantino Festival in Mexico. He stormed every stage he took to, inspiring and impressing experts and the common man.

In 1988, he was awarded Padma Shri. Later in 2010, he was honoured with Sangeet Natak Academy Award. Mr Srinivas was also the recipient of the prestigious Sangeeta Ratna award.
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