A professional Mridangam artist, Mysore has received praise from numerous seasoned artists for his incredible playing abilities. He currently resides in Chennai and performs frequently both there and elsewhere in the nation.

Mysore L Vadiraj is a professional Mridangam artist from Chennai.

He hails from Mysore, but his family had migrated from Mysore to Chennai ten years ago.

Mysore initially began Mridangam training under the Mridangam maestro, Karnataka Kalashree PG Lakshminarayana of Mysore. He received further training from H S Sudhindra. Later he joined his dream player, World renowned Mridangam Maestro Thiruvarur Bhakthavatsalam in 2010. It has been more than twenty years of his music journey.

Remembering his childhood, Mysore says he used to play and watch cricket a lot. One day, he watched the national integrity song “Mile sur mera tumhara” and was very much impressed by the performance of Zakir Hussain, the tabla maestro in the song. He used to tap his fingers like playing tabla. At the age of fourteen, he started learning to play the Mridangam. After he  started training in Mridangam, he never returned to the playgrounds to play cricket. He used to practice for hours and now Mridangam has turned into his passion.

Speaking about his challenges, Mysore says as he didn’t have anyone in his family in the field of music or any Godfather, it was very difficult to start his career in this field. But all his gurus helped him a lot to get small concerts and other performances. He learned all the nuances of Mridangam in Gurukula Vasam for about eight years. He used to teach even on YouTube and shared his knowledge with other aspirants who do not get the opportunity or resources to learn music.

When asked about his mistakes, Mysore says everyone, even the legends commit mistakes at some point of time in life but what is important is overcoming those mistakes. To avoid mistakes during stage performances, practice hard. He always listens to his recordings and analyzes his performance and tries to ratify his mistakes and make his performance better.

Speaking about his achievements, Mysore says as a young Mridangist, he won a number of prizes in all the sabhas in Karnataka. In 2012, he moved to Chennai, the cultural hub of Carnatic Music, to pursue advanced training with the maestro in the traditional gurukula system. And very soon he started performing in all prestigious sabhas and events. Due to his exceptional talent, his nada yoga  and Krithi oriented style of accompanying, he won the hearts of senior musicians and rasikas.

Mysore has also played several patriotic songs on mridangam, which has been done for the first time, and which has got wide popularity. He has also  played numerous Jughalbandhi concerts with senior musicians. He has experimented with a lot of fusion concerts too. He developed a mobile app to teach music. He has performed in many countries like Scotland, Edinburgh and many more.

Mysore is a graded artist of All India Radio, Chennai and has secured the 2nd rank in the Proficiency Exam (Vidwath examination) conducted by Karnataka   Secondary Education Board (K.S.E.B)

When asked about his role models, Mysore says he considers all his gurus including Zakir Hussain, Kalashree Shri PG Lakshminarayana and Thiruvarur Bakthavathsalam his role models.

Whenever he feels low, Mysore enjoys listening to music. He says music artists are lucky that they have music all the time. He also meditates and practices Pranic Healing.

Mysore’s life mantra is to get more involved in music, share all his knowledge with his students, and make the environment people friendly through music.