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Kadri Gopalnath (6 December 1949 – 11 October 2019) was an Indian alto saxophonist also known by the sobriquet ‘Saxophone Chakravarty’ (Emperor of Saxophone). One of the pioneers of music in saxophone in the country, he had the distinction of being the first Carnatic musician to be invited to the BBC Promenade concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1994. He had played the saxophone for Tamil film ‘Duet’ helmed by late director K Balachander with musical score by A R Rahman, popularising the otherwise lesser known instrument among the people in Tamil Nadu. Gopalnath was active in the music world in Chennai although he was a native of coastal Karnataka. He learnt Nagaswara at an early age from his father Taniyappa who was a famous artiste. Gopalnath was attracted to the saxophone after listening to a recital in the Mysore palace band set and developed a passion for it. He later learnt playing Carnatic music on the saxophone from N Gopalakrishna Iyer of Kalaniketan. He presented his first concert on the All India Radio in 1978. Gopalnath had performed in several places across the world including in Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, Sri Lanka and West Asia. He had also won many honours including Kendra Sangeet Natak Academy award and India's fourth-highest civiian honor, Padma Shri.

Description
Kadri Gopalnath (6 December 1949 – 11 October 2019) was an Indian alto saxophonist also known by the sobriquet ‘Saxophone Chakravarty’ (Emperor of Saxophone). One of the pioneers of music in saxophone in the country, he had the distinction of being the first Carnatic musician to be invited to the BBC Promenade concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1994. He had played the saxophone for Tamil film ‘Duet’ helmed by late director K Balachander with musical score by A R Rahman, popularising the otherwise lesser known instrument among the people in Tamil Nadu. Gopalnath was active in the music world in Chennai although he was a native of coastal Karnataka. He learnt Nagaswara at an early age from his father Taniyappa who was a famous artiste. Gopalnath was attracted to the saxophone after listening to a recital in the Mysore palace band set and developed a passion for it. He later learnt playing Carnatic music on the saxophone from N Gopalakrishna Iyer of Kalaniketan. He presented his first concert on the All India Radio in 1978. Gopalnath had performed in several places across the world including in Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, Sri Lanka and West Asia. He had also won many honours including Kendra Sangeet Natak Academy award and India's fourth-highest civiian honor, Padma Shri.