“Not in the wildest of dreams would I have imagined playing a tribute concert for my brother U. Shrinivas! Destiny is cruel,” says an emotional Mandolin U. Rajesh who will be in Bangalore this Sunday to take part in the homage for the late mandolin hero, who has a number of students in the city.
“I will express my gratitude and pay respects by playing on Shrinivas’ own mandolin which I am bringing to Bangalore.”
Rajesh’s November 30 concert for the Bengaluru Sangeeth Utsav starts with a tribute at Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha, followed by his concert. It would be his first public performance after losing his 45-year-old brother in September, following a failed liver transplant.
U. Shrinivas had customised his mandolin to suit the Carnatic genre. He had a special instrument made for him by the world renowned guitarist John McLaughlin from Nice, France. “My brother used this mandolin for 30 years. He had half a dozen mandolins sourced from different countries in his collection,” says Rajesh.
“Shrinivas was my main guru. I played with him for 20 long years. Although I am shattered and broken, the only way is to gather myself and take forward the Mandolin Shrinivas school that my brother founded and spearheaded. It’s going to be tough without him,” says Rajesh.
Rajesh is happy that his concert for Bengaluru Sangeeth Utsav is alongside Chitraveena expert Ravikiran whom he considers his mentor. He will also be part of Hometown Productions’ Tribute Concert to Shrinivas ‘Memories of Mandolin’ on December 6 (Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, 6.30 p.m.) along with Vishwa Mohan Bhat (Mohan Veena), Fayaz Khan (sarangi) and Deepak Pandit (violin).
