Mandolin loses its strings as Shrinivas passes away at 45

Child prodigy-turned-musician Mandolin U. Shrinivas passed away in Chennai on Friday. He was 45 and suffering from liver related disease. The Carnatic musician was reportedlyadmitted in ApolloHospital for liver transplant, the operation however failed to survive him.

source: thinkvidya.com

Mandolin U. Shrinivas was born on February 28, 1969 in Palakol, Andhra Pradesh. He started playing his father’s mandolin at a very young age.  He made his first public performance in 1978 in Gudivada, Andhra Pradesh, at the Thyagaraja Aradhana festival and soon became a renowned Carnatic musician. He has been honoured by many prestigious awards like the Padma Shri and the Sangeet Natak Akademi award. The musician was familiar with many globally acclaimed artists like John McLaughlin, Michael Nyman and Michael Brook. He also performed at the JazzFest Berlin and continued to win people’s hearts in Asia, United States and Canada with his exceptional music.

Musicians across the world expressed their grief through micro-blogging sites. “Emotionally shaken to hear of Carnatic shining star Mandolin Shrinivasji's demise... May God bless him with happiness in the next world...,” a sad A.R. Rahman tweeted. “The grt Mandolin exponent U Shrinivas is no more unfortunately. Ws gng thru a liver trnsplnt. Imprvd apparently. Bt succumbed tragically.RIP ,” writes Sonu Nigam.

The great Carnatic musician is survived by his father and brother Mandolin U. Rajesh, who is also a talented mandolin player. May his soul rest in peace!