Kadri Gopalnath (Saxophone) with Kanyakumari (Violin) and Thenkanikottai Mani (Thavil)
Friday, September 19th, 2003, 7:30 pm
Venue:
Cofman Union Theater
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis campus
About the artists:
Kadri Gopalnath learnt playing Carnatic music on the saxophone under Gopalkrishna Iyer of Kalaniketana, Mangalore. His dedication and tireless efforts enabled him to imbibe all the nuances of Carnatic music and the saxophone. In Madras, Gopalnath came in contact with the versatile mridangist T.V. Gopalkrishnan who identified the youngster’s potential and chiseled him into an internationally famed artist. Gopalnath humbly acknowledges the fact that it is the blessings of his gurus that is responsible for his success.
His maiden performance was for the Chembai Memorial Trust. It was a roaring success. In 1980,at a Jazz festival in Mumbai, Gopalnath had a chance encounter with John Handy, the famous Jazz musician from California. Hearing Gopalnath play, Handy asked if he could go on stage and perform alongside with him. So good did the two artist synchronize on stage, 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 Halle Festival in Paris, the BBC Promenade concert in 1994 at London and has toured extensively all over the world, performing in all prestigious music venues in India and abroad.
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 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 She has also accompanied 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
Born in 1954 at Thenkanikottai, Tamil Nadu, South India, Thenkanikottai Mani comes from an eminent family of musicians. He started learning Thavil from the age of 8 from his father, the eminent Thavil Vidwan Sri M. Venkatraman. Later, he trained with Guru Koranadu Sri P. Palanivel Pillai. During his thirty-five years of experience in the field has accompanied almost all well-known nadaswaram artists. Since 1985, he has been regularly accompanying SriKadri Gopalnath. Being a very versatile musician, Mani has also participated in many Jugalbandhis (duets) and jazz programs. He has been recognized as Asthana Vidwan (court musician) for the year 2000 by Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. He has toured extensively in India, Mauritius, Paris,US, Canada and Australia.
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