Sanjay Subrahmanyan


Sanjay Subrahmanyan is a Carnatic vocalist from India. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2015.

Biography

Sanjay Subrahmanyan was born on 21 January 1968 in Chennai to S. Sankaran and Aruna Sankaran. His father S. Sankaran, popularly known as Burma Sankaran, was a member of the drama troupe led by Cho Ramaswamy. He began learning music at age eight, studying the violin with V. Lakshminarayana and vocals from his aunt late Sukanya Swaminathan. He studied 'Carnatic vocal music from Rukmini Rajagopalan for eight years, until 1988, and after 1989 with Calcutta K. S. Krishnamurthi. It is during this phase, which lasted until KSK’s death in 1999, that he started first developing and then mastering an innovative style of singing that blended tradition and modernity, and he set aside his career as an accountant for one in music.
It was during this period that Sanjay Subrahamanyan, along with several of his young contemporaries founded the Youth Association of Carnatic Music. YACM was created for the purpose of promoting Carnatic music amongst the youth, and provided a platform for young Carnatic musicians to showcase their talents.
He studied with Semponarkoil S. R. D. Vaidyanathan from 2002 until 2013.
In this period, Sanjay Subrahmanyan started to explore vivadi ragas. He sang ragam-tanam-pallavis in Hindusthani ragas. He explored several rare raga-s that are not often sung in concerts.

Awards & titles

Sanjay Subrahmanyan was the subject of the documentary film "Aaraar aasaippadaar" by filmmaker Prasanna Ramaswamy; the documentary film was screened in November 2006 in Chennai.
His albums are also available for download on iTunes, Amazon, Gumroad and other popular digital distribution portals.
Sanjay Subrahmanyan’s discography is presented below:
YearAlbum TitleAccompanistsContents
1984NeerajakshiR. K. Shriramkumar - Violin, K Arun Prakash - Mrdangam, N. Ganesh Kumar - KanjiraSri Kanchi, Kantajoodumi, Neerajakshi, Sri Venugopala, Thiruvadi Charanam
1990Classical Moods-Varnam, O Rajeevaksha, Ramanatham, Edayya Gathi, Bhuvinidasudane, Thyagarajaya
1994Carnatic VocalVittal Ramamurthy - Violin; K. Arun Prakash - MrdangamVarnam, Sobillu, Seethapathe, Maayamma, Sri Dakshinamurthe, Aravinda
1994Ganamrutham-Vanajakshi Varnam, Sankari, Ramanamapayasake, Brocheva, Aadum deivam, Chinnanchiru Kiliye
1995RasanubhavamVittal Ramamurthy - Violin, K. Arun Prakash - Mrdangam, Neyveli Venkatesh - KanjiraThulasidalamulache, Parama Pavani, Ammaravamma, Gaanaamudapaanam, Saraguna Palimpa, Thillana, Thirupugazh, Vidajaaladura, Thikutheriyada
1997Live Waves From MelbourneR. K. Shriramkumar - Violin; K. Arun Prakash - MrdangamVarnam, Korinavara, Sri Kalamambikayam, Emani Pogadathura, Male Manivanna, Ragam Thanam Pallavi in Bhairavi..