Ambi Subramaniam: The New King of Indian Classical Violin
Ambi Subramaniam is such a master fiddler that it is nearly impossible to choose his best fiddling performance. The breakneck speed with which he plays, sometimes simple and at times powerful, leaves the listener breathless, it’s so intense. The Bangalore-based 29-year-old Ambi is very down-to-earth, simple and just like any Gen X youngster, until he picks up his violin.
Hailed as “India’s Itzhak Pearlman” by Ozy Magazine, Ambi has been trained by his father and guru Dr L. Subramaniam since he was three years old. He gave his first public performance at the age of seven. He received the Ritz Icon Annual Award, the Rotary Youth Award, two GiMAs (Global Indian Music Award for Best Fusion Album and Best Carnatic Instrumental Album) and Big Indian Music Award (Best Carnatic Album). In 2007, he released his first album and two years later he received a Golden Violin from Sri Jayendra Saraswati.
Ambi also co-wrote India’s first series of textbooks for teaching the Indian violin.
Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.
Verus Ferreira is a music journalist for over three decades. He is the author of The Great Music Quiz Book and The Great Rock Music Quiz Book and the founder of Musicunplugged.in