Mridangam artist Vijay Natesan is one of the promising young Carnatic musicians to have migrated to Chennai in recent years from Mumbai, by all accounts an excellent nursery of such talent.
Vijay showed very early signs of his talent and started performing at the age of seven, easily merging into the percussion ensembles led by his guru. At present receiving advanced instruction from mridangam maestro T.V. Gopalakrishnan, he is a dependable accompanist fast establishing himself in the concert circuit, having accompanied such senior artists as T.N. Krishnan, T.V. Gopalakrishnan, O.S. Thyagarajan, G.S. Mani, Kanyakumari, and Sowmya.
Vijay, who has played the mridangam for the musical tracks of the singer Adnan Sami and in the film Bhool Bhulaiya, is a member of the fusion band Samarpan of Mumbai.
Vijay was seen in a TV serial featuring tabla ustad Zakir Hussain and singer Shankar Mahadevan, and has provided percussion support in the HMV Saregama instrumental album Silver Lining.
Though steeped in tradition, Vijay Natesan, like many of his generation, has eclectic tastes in music—counting Hindustani, ghazals, bhajans and jazz among his favourite listening.