A rather inconspicuous member of the western orchestra, Srinivas has revived and raised the mandolin, to give it a respectable status in classical music

Despite the public adulation, Uppalapu Srinivas also known as Mandolin Srinivas still retains his shy small-town boyish characteristics and an obsession for his mandolin. A quick fire conversation with the mandolin player not only establishes humble truths of his upcoming but also reinforces the faith in his musical skills. Speaking about his musical journey he says, “I started playing at the age of six and gave my first stage performance at age of nine and ever since then there has been no looking back.”

Srinivas, who was the first musician to use the mandolin in Indian Carnatic Music, was in the city recently for a programme, says, “I love playing here as the audience has a taste and the ear for music. I was here last year for the Heartbeats program and even this year I am looking forward towards performing for Heartbeats 09 in December.”

His tryst with the mandolin began when he was a mere boy of six years and had started playing on his father, Subbaraju’s Mandolin. Intrigued by the boy's interest in music, he taught Srinivas the ways of playing Carnatic music on the mandolin. He also learned Carnatic music from Shri Vasu Rao that helped him develop his own style of playing.

Talking about sharing stage with artistes like John McLaughlin, Michael Brook, Nigel Kennedy he says, “It is always a pleasure to play with such talented artists and I enjoy it immensely. Plus there is always something to learn from them. He has also played with Hindustani music stalwarts such as Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Ustad Zakir Hussain.

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