CHENNAI, January 3: We regret to announce the demise of senior violinist M.S. Gopalakrishnan.

He passed away in the early hours of this morning. He was 82. He was admitted to a city hospital following complaints of breathlessness last evening.

Hailing from the Parur lineage, he was fondly referred to as MSG in music circles. He was a recipient of Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. He was also conferred the Sangita Kalanidhi title by The Music Academy. He is survived by his wife Meenakshi; daughter violinist M. Narmadha; violinist-son Suresh and daughter Latha.

Gopalakrishnan was taught violin by his father, the late Parur Sundaram Iyer, who was well-versed in North Indian (Hindustani) and South Indian (Carnatic) systems of Indian classical music. He learnt both systems from his father.

Titles & awards

• 1960 Violin Vadhya Samrat - Bombay Sivananda Ashram, India


• 1975 Padmashri - Government of India


• 1976 Violin Vadhya Chakravarthy - NewYork, U.S.A


• 1978 Kalaimamani - Govt. of Tamil Nadu, India


• 1979 Kerala Sangeetha Nataka academy award, India


• 1980 T.Chowdiah award - Karnataka, India


• 1982 Central Sangeetha Nataka Academy award, India


• 1997 Sapathagiri Sangeetha Vidwanmani - Thirupathi Devasthanam, India


• 1998 Sangeetha Kalanidhi - Madras Music Academy, Chennai, India


• 2012 Padma Bhushan - Government of India