Child prodigy to maestro —( U Shrinivas)

Mandolin Shrinivas has often been compared to some of the world greatest prodigies.

"Some of you have heard or read about exceptionally gifted children, our own Mandolin Shrinivas, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Beethoven, Sir Isaac Newton, Picasso, Madam Curie, the list is endless" (courtesy THE HINDU, Sunday, May 3, 1992)

To Shrinivas the mandolin was his first love. He expended all his latent talent to conquer this little known alien instrument. Such was the proficiency he attained that his father soon realized that what he had on his hands was a "child prodigy" and no less ! Sparing no effort and time, he swept his son on his sail to recognition. The creative energy in Shrinivas swirled like a tidal wave around the Carnatic music world. The way critics gushed, it was hard to tell if they were talking about a child or a god! "He was hardly nine. Innocence was writ large on his face. But the music that he produced on the little brittle mandolin was unbelievably Carnatic and classical to the core, throwing into the shade even the top instrumentalists. One had to rub one's eyes and pinch oneself to make sure that a nine-year-old lad was performing musical miracles on the dais. He even operated on offbeat summations revealing virtuosity of a high order. That he could conceive in his mind the raga in all its grandeur and inherent niceties and transform them into musical extravaganzas had to be seen and heard to be believed ! It was clear that there was a divine force expressing itself through him in his tiny instrument".

Shrinivas got his first big break in Gudivada in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, during the Sri Thyagaraja Aradhana festival. He was barely nine then.

The rest is musical history

Maestro U.Shrinivas' - Mandolin

Mandolin Shrinivas, is perhaps the greatest thing to have happened to "mandolin", for it was he who adapted the instrument to carnatic classical music, made some structural modifications and introduced ingenious playing techniques to take mandolin to its present enviable position in music. The Mandolin Samrat's contribution to music and the instrument is invaluable, and he has elevated the mandolin to the status of a lead instrument and that too the complex Carnatic Classical Music.

It would be worthwhile dwelling in sufficient detail on U.Shrinivas' design in order to fully comprehend the magnitude and enormity of his contribution.

'Gamakas (sustained notes), one would doubtless agree, are quintessential to carnatic music - so much so that, one cannot play carnatic music without using 'gamakas' (sustained notes). With the original design of the mandolin the musician venturing to play carnatic music on it, faced two major problems :

The presence of pairs of strings made it difficult to render complex 'gamaka's (sustained notes) on the mandolin.

The sustenance (the time period for which a note would be heard from the time the string is plucked) of the instrument, on the whole, was not sufficient enough (to some extent attributable to the presence of "pairs of strings") to admit slow-tempo compositions.


Mandolin Shrinivas came up with some modifications which (i) eliminated completely the problem of 'gamaka' (sustained notes) rendition. (ii) to a great extent enhanced the sustenance of the instrument, and (iii) enhanced the acoustic range of the instrument.

The modifications have opened up the floodgates of expression to the mandolin which were hitherto thought impossible. The inevitable fallout of these modifications is that mandolin, in this new design, has lost its characteristic "plink-plunk" sound (attributable to the pairs of strings) and the playing style of continuous, fast up-down plucking as a means of sustaining notes. But then, in view of the stupendous vistas and the expressing potential opened up by the new design, one is more than pleased to overlook this.

Shrinivas had the privilege of playing with great artists like:
Ustad Zakir Hussain
John McLaughlin
Michael Brook
Nigel Kennedy
Michael Nyman
Pandit Jasraj
Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma

Jazz tours

In the West Berlin Jazz Festival in 1983, he pitted against Miles Davis and his All Star Band. In 1987, U. Srinivas became the first South Indian Carnatic music artist to perform at the Cevantino Festival in Mexico.
• Olympics Arts Festival at Barcelona, 1992

Mandolin U. Shrinivas received the birudu of Sapthagiri Sangeetha Vidwanmani from P.V.R.K. Prasad (Advisor, T.T. Devasthanams) at the sadas of the 63rd annual festival of music & dance organised by Sri Thyagaraja Festival Committee from 25 July - 5 August in Tirupati. A.P.V.N. Sarma (Executive Officer, T.T.D.) and M. Krishnaswami (Chairman, Sri Thyagaraja Trust) were also present.

Fusion Albums

Dream

Dream, a mix of classical Indian music, electric mandolin and soaring electric guitar creates a worldly fusion of ragas, progressive rock and ambient/techno, a musical fever dream accented with other oddities, from violin and cello to drum loops. It is highly improvisational, with Michael Brook contributing King Crimsonish guitar against Shrinivas' nimble runs on the mandolin.

Shrinivas, with his depth of musical skill and knowledge, has brought forth his own composition, 'Srujana' (Sindhu Bhairavi - Tisra Nadai), which is a lively 'Note', resembling the western noted structure.

His goal in life is to popularise Carnatic music all over the world through his mandolin. With his rich classical background, he also aims at propagating music globally through mandolin concerts.

He has already performed with renowned artistes like Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Sultan Khan, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, and international stars like John McLaughlin, Michael Brook, Nana Vasconcelos and Nigel Kennedy.

Shrinivas hopes to realise his dreams through the organisation that he has set up - 'Shrinivas Institute of World Musique' (SIOWM

The list of awards conferred on him is endless. And he is easily the most sought after artist. Between inhaling and exhaling, he gives a performance. It is also striking to note that he has none of the trappings of a star about him. Shy, silent, and reticent, he is rarely in the public eye, except on the podium.

He is already one of the all-time greats. The Government of Tamil Nadu appointed him as a State Artiste(Asthana Vidwan) in July 1984. On 1st October 1990, Shrinivas has been nominated the "Asthana Vidwan" (Resident Artiste) of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam by His Holiness Sri Jayendra Saraswathi. On 24th June 1991, Shrinivas has been awarded the Top Rank of All India Radio for Carnatic Classical Mandolin Instrumental.

Indian Classical Recital featuring mandolin maestro U. Shrinivas has enraptured audiences throughout the world with his brilliance on the instrument, which he alone developed and into a solo instrument in the South Indian classical repertoire. A child prodigy, he gave his first public appearance at the age of nine and went on to receive the prestigious title of Padma Shree award from the President of India. He has recorded several of albums for labels including Realworld, BMG, EMI among others.


He also tours regularly with Indian-Jazz ensemble Remember Shakti with guitarist John McLaughlin and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain. He will be joined by his brother U. Rajesh as on mandolin to provide riveting mandolin duets, on percussion is Muruga Boopathy on mridangam (a traditional barrel shaped South Indian drum), and S. V. Ramani on ghatam (an ancient musical clay pot).


"Shrinivas performed at the Berlin Festival 25 years ago (At that time Shrinivas was only 12 years old). John observes "I had the great fortune to see Shrinivas perform..To witness the musical prowess and maturity of this young prodigy was simply astounding and I was still amazed by the profound musicality of the young teenager"


John goes on to say.. "In my life as a professional musician, I have had the chance to work with and know some of the world's greatest musicians, from both East and West. Mr. Shrinivas is one of those rare human beings who embody the most phenomenal talent, with an equal amount of humility. It is quite simply, a real joy work and play with him. He demonstrates, marvelous intelligence, with humor, and has a kind of serenity in him that I have rarely seen elsewhere. In short, I cannot speak too highly of Mr. U. Shrinivas" ... John McLaughlin.