The noted Saxophone exponent, Kadri Gopalanath, died in the early hours of Friday in a private hospital in Mangaluru. He was 69.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. His son Manikanth Kadri is a noted music director.

Born at Sajeepa Mooda village in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada in 1950, Gopalnath was a pioneer of Carnatic music on Saxophone.

Gopalnath learnt Nagaswara from his father Taniyappa at an early age. During his young period, he got a chance to listen to the saxophone recital in the band set of the then Mysore Palace.

He learnt the art of playing Carnatic music on the saxophone from N Gopalakrishna Iyer of Kalaniketan. His first concert was aired from All India Radio in Mangaluru in 1978.

It was the Carnatic musician, TV Gopalakrishnan, from Chennai, who identified the talent of Gopalanath and shaped him to become an artist of international repute.

Gopalnath was invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1994.

Mangalore University conferred him the honorary doctorate at its annual convocation in 2013.

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