Peri Sreeramamurthy: An Obituary

My guru Shri Peri Sreeramamurthy passed away on July 9th, 2016. Peri garu was a great man, a brilliant violin maestro, an outstanding teacher, and a true gem of a person. The son of Peri Subba Rao, he continued his father's unique violin style, combined his unique gifts with rigorous sadhana and very soon became a top violinist in Andhra Pradesh. He was widely respected, and called upon by top most artistes to accompany them. He won praise from violin legends such as Lalgudi G Jayaraman, M Chandrashekharan, and MS Gopalakrishnan, and was one of the few carnatic violinists who could play all three styles. He earned the respect of top musicians in Chennai even though he was distant in Hyderabad. He was an edifice of musical knowledge, and of violin technique.

Peri garu was humility personified, and always reminded us that music is an ocean, and our journeys would take us a few steps into it. He instilled in us a devotion to creativity and music, and along with it a commitment to practice, respect (especially of elders) and a instinctive generosity to share knowledge. As a guru, he taught us not just music, but reinforced core human values. He had a way of unraveling the mysteries of music and violin techniques to their simplest forms, and made it easy for us to understand. I will cherish those moments in class where we had the opportunity to taste his brilliance and partake of his generosity. He is survived by his family, son (Peri Thyagaraju, a rising violinist himself) and daughter. I offer them my deepest condolences. I will miss my dear guru, and thank him for giving me and his disciples the gift of music, and shaping me as a human being. The world has quietly lost a gem.