Shankar Lakshminarayana, better known as L. Shankar, is an Indian violinist, singer and composer who also goes by the stage name Shenkar. Known for his innovative contributions to world music, he is often regarded as one of the pioneers of East-West fusion, blending the rich traditions of Indian classical with Western genres such as rock, pop, jazz, and electronic music. His extensive body of work spans a wide spectrum of genres, encompassing vocal and instrumental compositions. He has released 28 solo albums, the two latest being Full Moon and Over the Stars, which were released in September and August 2024, respectively. Shankar is credited with inventing the stereophonic Double violin (known as the LSD - L.Shankar Double Violin), which covers the orchestral string family's range.
Subramaniam Lakshminarayana is an Indian violinist, composer and conductor, trained in the classical Carnatic music tradition and Western classical music.
Kavita Krishnamurthy, is an Indian playback and classical singer. She has recorded numerous songs in various Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Odia, Marathi, English, Urdu, Tamil, Malayalam, Gujarati, Nepali, Assamese, Konkani, Punjabi and other languages. She is the recipient of four Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer Awards, and the Padmashri which she received in 2005. She was awarded a Doctorate for her contributions to Indian music by Bangalore-based Jain University in 2015. In 1999, she married noted violinist L. Subramaniam and resides in Bengaluru.
Neha Kakkar Singh is an Indian singer. She is the younger sister of playback singers Tony Kakkar and Sonu Kakkar. She began performing at a very early age at religious events. In 2005, she participated in the second season of the singing reality show, Indian Idol. She made her Bollywood debut as a chorus singer in the film Meerabai Not Out. She rose to prominence with the release of the dance track "Second Hand Jawaani" from Cocktail (2012), which was followed by several popular party songs, including "Sunny Sunny" from Yaariyan and "London Thumakda" from the 2014 soundtrack album Queen. Apart from playback singing, Kakkar has appeared in several music videos and as a judge on several television reality shows, including "Indian Idol".
Lakshmi Shankar was an Indian singer and a noted Hindustani classical. Born into a south Indian Hindu family, she became an outstanding Hindustani vocalist of the Patiala Gharana and married Rajendra Shankar, brother of Uday Shankar, a Bengali by birth. She was known for her performances of khyal, thumri, and bhajan. She was the sister-in-law of sitar player Ravi Shankar and the mother-in-law of violinist L. Subramaniam.
"Bombay" Jayashri Ramnath is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer, and musician. She has sung songs in multiple languages, including for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi movies. Born into a family of musicians, Jayashri represents the fourth generation of music practitioners in her family. Trained by Lalgudi Jayaraman and T.R. Balamani. She was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, in 2021. In December 2023, she was awarded the most prestigious award in the Carnatic music field, the Sangeetha Kalanidhi, by the Madras Music Academy. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song (Oscar) for Pi's Lullaby from Life of Pi movie. She has become one of the most sought-after Carnatic musicians today.
Malkauns, known also as rag Malkosh, is a raga in Indian classical music. It is one of the oldest ragas of Indian classical music. The equivalent raga in Carnatic music is called Hindolam, not to be confused with the Hindustani Hindol.
Nithyasree Mahadevan, also referred to as S. Nithyasree, is a Carnatic musician and playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. Nithyashree has performed in all major sabhas in India. She has released more than 500 albums. She is best known for her rendition of the A. R. Rahman composition, "Kannodu Kaanbadhellam" - her playback debut song in the Tamil movie Jeans.
Sangita Kalanidhi Aruna Sairam is an Indian classical vocalist and carnatic music singer. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri award from the Government of India and was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Academy by the Government of India until 2022. In 2011, Aruna was the first Carnatic musician to perform at the BBC proms in London. She is also the first Carnatic musician to perform in Oud Festival of Israel (Jerusalem).
Nirmala Rajasekar is a Carnatic Saraswati veena player, composer, vocalist, and educator. One of the world's premier veena players, Rajasekar has performed at Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, the Madras Music Academy, Narada Gana Sabha, Sawai Gandharva Festival, and the Konya International Mystic Music Festival. Rajasekar is the current co-chair of the American Composers Forum.
Dr.M.Narmadha born 11 April is a celebrated popular third generation heritage violinist who performs solo violin concerts in both Carnatic and Hindustani classical systems of Indian Music.
The Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts (SaPa) was founded in 2007, by violinist Dr. L. Subramaniam and Bollywood playback singer Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam. It is run by singer/songwriter Bindu Subramaniam and violinist Ambi Subramaniam.
Ambi Subramaniam is a violinist, composer, and educator. He started performing on stage when he was six years old and was described as the "new king of Indian classical violin" by the Times of India.
Viji Subramaniam, also known as Viji Shankar, was an Indian singer. She was the daughter of singer Lakshmi Shankar and Rajendra Shankar. Like her mother and uncle, Viji was a musician and trained in both the Indian classical systems.
Nandini Shankar is an Indian violinist who performs Hindustani classical music and fusion. She is the daughter of Sangeeta Shankar and granddaughter of N. Rajam.
Mahesh Raghvan is a Carnatic music fusion artist. He is known for playing Carnatic music on the iPad on an app named GeoShred.
Aneesh Vidyashankar is a violinist, composer and architect. He is best known as the "Walking Violinist". for his ability to walk and play fusion music on the violin, amidst the crowd. He was introduced to Carnatic Music at the age of three and was formally trained by his father S.R Vidyashankar, who hails from the Lalgudi Jayaraman school of violin playing. Aneesh was a child prodigy and gave his first solo violin performance on stage, when he was six years old.
Akshay Anantapadmanabhan is an carnatic mridangam artist, composer and multi-percussionist.
