General
Violin maestro T.N. Krishnan passes away
- 29 November 2020
Violin maestro Prof. T. N. Krishnan passed away on November 2. He was 92 years old.
Krishnan, who began playing concerts at a very young age performed almost till the last - the Covid pandemic put an end to live concerts in early 2020.
He is survived by wife, son Sriram Krishnan and daughter Viji Krishnan, who are also violinists.
Tripunithura Narayanaiyer Krishnan was born in 1928 in Kerala.
His father A. Narayana Iyer was his first guru and Krishnan gave his first solo violin concert in Thiruvananthapuram in 1939 when he was 11.
Krishnan went on to perform on the big stage and accompanied the great artistes of those times - artistes like Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Musiri Subramania Iyer, the Alathur Brothers, GNB, Madurai Mani Iyer, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar and Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer.
Krishnan came to be a sishya under Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer - this after he moved to Chennai and made it his base.
He then began to formally teach music - he taught at the Madras Music College and much later, he became the dean of School of Music and Fine Arts, University of Delhi.
But he was always on the concert stage and often in Chennai's sabha circuit. He played solo or with his son or his daughter or with both.
Prof. Krishnan was decorated with many prestigious awards - the Sangita Kalanidhi, the Padma Bhushan and later, the Padma Vibhushan.
He was also a good raconteur - often spicing his lec-dems or talks with colourful anecdotes; and even sharing them at his concerts.
