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Click here for the miindia.com exclusive interview on Kadri Gopalnath during his GLAC MI tour.

Kadri Gopalnath is a renowned South Indian alto saxophonist. While he had his start in the music field by playing the nadaswaram, a Carnatic double reed instrument, he pioneered and mastered playing Carnatic music on the saxophone He has essentially reinvented this western instrument by using novel fingering and embouchure techniques to create microtones and voice-like ornamentation to suit Indian music. He has participated in major festivals and presentations around the world, including the Music Halle Festival in France, the International Cervatino Festival in Mexico, the Berlin Jazz Festival, and the World Music Institute in New York. Gopalnath has played with many leading jazz musicians, including the saxophonist John Handy. and has collaborated with flautist James Newton on an album. In 1994, he became the first South Indian classical musician to be invited to perform in the BBC Promenade concert. 

He is accompanied by the eminent violinist A. Kanyakumari, Mridangist B. Harikumar and Rajendra Nakod on the Tabla .

Avasavala Kanyakumari hails from Vijayanagaram, a cultural hub in the South Indian state of Andhrapradesh. 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.

During her 1980 US tour, a Minneapolis violin collector who was amongst the audience, struck by her sterling performance, presented Kanyakumari with a violin from her collection. 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. Kanyakumari offers free violin tuition in Madras. Prasanna, a carnatic guitarist and Embar Kannan are two of her students who are already making waves in the Carnatic music circle.

B. Harikumar was born in Changanasery, Kerala and learnt from Sri Mavelikara Velukkutty Nair. He graduated in mridangam from Swati Thirunal Music College and is a staff artiste at All India Radio in Thiruchy since 1989. He has conducted Jugal Bandhis and Tala Vadya programs around the world with maestros like Sri T. N. Sheshagopalan, Sri Ajay Chakraborthy, Sri Rashid Khan, Zakir Hussain, and Sri Tanmoy Bose in USA, Europe, India, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Australia. He has won many prestigious awards. Located in Tiruchirapalli.

Rajendra Nakod
Rajendra comes from a family of distinguished classical musicians. His father, Pandit Arjunsa Nakod was an eminent vocalist. Rajendra had his early training under his father and later under his brothers, Pandit Raghunath Nakod and Sri Vishwanath Nakod, both outstanding tabla players.

Rajendra has performed at various classical music festivals all over India. He has accompanied such famous musicians like (Late) Basvaraj Rajguru, Begum Parveen Sultana and Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. He is equally at home with solo performances. Rajendra is an "A" grade artiste of All India Radio.

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