MANDOLIN WIZARD U SRINIVAS

His mastery of that little known instrument – the Mandolin, has taken him all around the world. But despite the adulation, he still has his head firmly on his shoulders and modestly says ‘I still have a long way to go’.

The Government of Tamil Nadu appointed him ‘state artiste’ in July 1984. He is the resident artiste of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam and the Vinayaka Temple at Pillayarpatti. He is the youngest recipient of the prestigious National Citizen’s Award given by the President of India. He is also the recipient of the Padmashree. He was given the honorary citizenship of the State of Maryland U.S.A. by the Governor of Maryland and the citizenship of Columbia by the Mayor, District of Columbia. The titles and awards given him include Sangeetha Bala Bhaskara, Sangeetha Choodamani, Swara Kishore, Nada Sudha Nidhi, Thantri Nadhamani, Sangeetha Kala Sagara, Isai Peroli, Kalaimamani, Sangeetha Kalamrutha, Sapta Swara Nadamani, Rasika Kala Ratna, Raga Rytha Rishi,  Sangeetha Ratna Mysore T.Chowdiah Memorial National Award, the Best Artiste Award, Rajiv Gandhi National Integration Award, Senior Vidwan Award and the Yogam Nagaswami Award.

Here is a face-to-face-with maestro U.Srinivas.

I started learning music when I was five years young. My guru was my father, Shri Sathyanarayana, who was a mandolin player. I later learnt vocal music from Shri Subbaraju, who was a disciple of Shri Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar. I learnt western music from Shri S.Vasu Rao who was working as a music director in films.

My father used to play the mandolin. The sound of the instrument attracted me. And moreover, I have always liked to do something different.

Yes. Traditionally, the mandolin has eight strings (four pairs). For classical music, we do not need double strings, so I took out the double string and made it single and also added a fifth string to touch the lower octave.

There was a lot of discouragement initially, but I was undeterred by it. In my Arangetram, when I was fifteen years old, there were about fifteen people in the audience but as the concert went on, towards the end, the crowds swelled up to three thousand. That was proof enough for me to continue playing the mandolin.

An artiste should know the pulse of the audience. That comes only through experience. Another important thing an artiste should remember is that he should be able to cater to  the varied tastes of the rasikas. In my concerts I never repeat any of my songs.

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