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Maestro PadmaShri Kadri Gopalnath is one of the pioneers
of Carnatic music on the saxophone and is considered as the greatest exponent of
Saxophone in Carnatic music (Indian classical music) in India today. For his outstanding
virtusosity with his instrument, immense musical genius, devotion to the classical
arts and contributions to Carnatic music he is awarded innumerable titles including
Saxophone Samrat, Ganakala Shree, Nadopasana Brahma, Sunaada Prakashika, Sangeetha
Vadyaratna (from Film Director K. Balachander), Nada Kalaratna, Nada
Kalanithi (from Sringeri Peetham), Sangeetha Ratna
(from Dr. Balamuralikrishna), Karnataka Kalashree, and Vocational
Excellency award from the Rotary club of Madras.
Maestro was awarded the high national honour of Padma Shri by the Governemnt
of India for exceptional and distinguished service in the field of Music
in 2004.
Musical Bio
Kadri Gopalnath was born in Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka. He acquired a
taste for music from his father Thaniappa, a nadhaswaram vidwan. Young Gopalnath
once saw the saxophone being played in the Mysore palace band set. Thrilled on hearing
the vibrant tone of the saxophone, Gopalnath decided to master it. It took him nearly
20 years for him to conquer the complex western wind instrument and he was eventually
crowned as the "Saxophone Chakravarthy" (emperor of saxophone).
Gopalnath had to make certain modifications to the conventional alto saxophone to
play Carnatic music. So successful has this adaptation been that the great musician
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, the doyen of Carnatic music, has acknowledged Kadri Gopalnath
as a true Carnatic music genius.
Gopalnath learnt the instrument under Gopalkrishna Iyer of Kalaniketana, Mangalore.
In Madras, Gopalnath came in contact with the mridangist T.V. Gopalkrishnan who
identified the youngster's potential and tutored him.
His maiden performance was for the Chembai Memorial Trust.
Fusion with Jazz
1980 Bombay jazz festival was a turning point for Gopalnath. John Handy, a jazz
musician from California was present at the festival. Hearing Gopalnath play, Handy
asked if he could go on stage and perform alongside with him. So well did the two
mesh, Handy in the jazz style and Gopalnath in the Carnatic style, that it became
an instant hit with the audience. Gopalnath has participated in the Jazz Festival
in Prague, Berlin Jazz Festival, International Cervantino Festival in Mexico, Music
Hall Festival in Paris, the BBC Promenade concert in 1994 at London and has toured
all over the world.
He has cut many albums and has recorded a number of cassettes and CDs. Together
with jazz flutist James Newton he recorded Southern Brothers. His production called
'East-West' is an audio-video presentation that, as the title suggests, is a fusion
of Western and Indian music. This album took 6 months to produce and has compositions
from Saint Tyagaraja, Beethoven and the likes.
Kumari Kanyakumari (violin)
Avasavala Kanyakumari hails from Vijayanagaram, a cultural hub
in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Her tryst with the violin began at
a very early age during when she came under the tutelage of Vijayaswara Rao and
later from M. Chandrasekharan. The watershed in her career came in 1972, when her
musical genius was given due recognition by the late Dr. M.L. Vasantha Kumari (MLV).
Kanyakumari went on to accompany MLV on her concert tours for the next 19 years.
In 1990 Kanyakumari performed at the Tansen Utsav in NewDelhi. The celebrated Hindustani
musician Ustad Amjad Ali Khan after hearing Kanyakumari's concert, in a rare gesture,
draped her with the same shawl that he was honored with on the same stage.
She has also accompanied besides MLV, flautist Dr. N. Ramani, vocalist Dr. M. Balamurali
Krishna, Mandolin Srinivas and mridangist T.V. Gopalakrishnan. For the past 10 years,
Kanyakumari has also been organizing concert tours in India under the banner of
Vadyalahiri: an instrumental ensemble comprising a rare combination of the nadaswaram,
violin and the veena.
In 1988, Kanyakumari performed a rare feat at the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala,
India. She played the violin for 29 continuous hours, an unofficial world record.
Commemorating Kanyakumari's 25 years in concerts, M.S. Subbalakshmi honored
her with the title Dhanurveena Praveena.
Vadyalahiri and 25 Violins are amongst the discs that Kanyakumari has recorded.
Karunamoorthy (Tavil)
Shri. Karunamoorthy is a young exponent of the thavil drum, working as a professor
at the Vaikkom Kshetra Kala Peetom, India's only institute dedicated to propagating
temple-based performing arts. In 1999, Shri. Karunamoorthy was invited to perform
at several locations in Europe. At that tume, he performed with well-known jazz
drummers, eminent musicians of the Spanish flamenco tradition and the world-music
group Embryo.
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