Mangaluru (Karnataka): Padmashri Dr Kadri Gopalnath, one of the pioneers of Carnatic music on the saxophone in India, passed away on Friday, October 11. He was 69.
Gopalnath was unwell from some time and was admitted to a private hospital in the city. He breathed his last early in the morning on Friday.
Kadri Gopalnath was born on December 11, 1949, in Mangaluru. He acquired a taste for music from his father Thaniappa, a nadaswaram vidwan. In his childhood, he once saw the saxophone being played in the Mysore palace band set. Upon hearing the vibrant tone of the saxophone, Gopalnath decided to master it. It took him nearly 20 years to conquer the complex western wind instrument tweaking it for Karnatic music, and he was eventually crowned as the "Saxophone Chakravarthy".
He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004. He had the distinction of being the first Carnatic musician to be invited in the BBC Promenade concert in 1994, in the Royal Albert Hall at London.
Awards from the Asthana Vidwan of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Sri Sringeri Sharadha Peetam, Sri Ahobila Mutt and Sri Pillayarpatti Temple, honorary doctorate from Bangalore University, Sangeetha Kalasikhamani award from The Indian Fine arts Society, Chennai, and Kamban Pugazh award from All Ceylon Kamban Society, Sri Lanka, are a few of the honours and titles he received.
Gopalanath had also donated millions for the Kargil War Fund, which came from an event with 400 artists in the city council of Chennai.
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