Ambi Subramaniam (born 5 August 1991 Los Angeles, California, United States) 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. He was also described as 'India's 24-year-old Itzhak Perlman' by the Ozy Magazine.
Ambi is the Associate Dean of the Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts (SaPa), an institute that trains musically inclined children to become professional performers. In 2014, Ambi started the SaPa in Schools program with his sister, Bindu Subramaniam. SaPa in Schools is an initiative to integrate music into the mainstream academic curriculum, and works with 30,000 children in India.
Ambi's awards include the Ritz Icon of the Year Award, the Rotary Youth Award, two Global Indian Music Awards (GiMAs), and one BiMA. He was the three-time winner of the Philomena Thumbochetty Award for Best Western Classical Violinist, and received a golden violin from Sri Jayendra Saraswati when he was 18 years old. In 2021, he was named among GQ Magazine's 25 most influential young Indians.
Ambi is a youth delegate at the United Nations for the Sri Chinmoy Peace Meditation group.
Early life
Ambi Subramaniam was born in Los Angeles, California, to violinist Dr. L Subramaniam and vocalist Vijayashree (Viji) Subramaniam. His sister, Bindu Subramaniam, is a singer/songwriter and educator and his brother, Dr. Narayana Subramaniam, is a head and neck oncologist, author and musician. Ambi moved to Bangalore, India with his family in 1996, after the death of his mother. His father married Bollywood playback singer Kavita Krishnamurti in 1999.
Education
Ambi ranked first at the Board Royal School of Music's violin exams, which he took in 2005. He also received distinctions in piano and Western music theory, and was the three-time winner of the Philomena Thumbochetty Award for Best Western Classical Violinist.
Ambi completed his BBM from Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, which comes under the umbrella of Jain University Bangalore. He completed his MBA at RIMS, Bangalore, and has a PhD in music.
Career
Early Years
Ambi first sang on stage when he was six years old, and gave his first violin performance at the age of seven in Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the Indian Embassy. In 1999, he performed at the Necklace Road, Hyderabad, to an audience of 200,000. He performed alongside the Venga Boys as part of the Pepsi Live Concert in 2000.
Ambi started performing regularly after he turned 13. Around this time, he performed for then President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. He also participated in a virtual exchange program between an audience in New Delhi and one in Carnegie Hall, where he and an American teenage musician discussed cultural and musical differences. In 2007, he took his first trip to Durban, South Africa, where he performed at the One World Music Festival with his father. In 2008, he played at the opening of the Commonwealth Youth Games held in Pune.
Orchestral and international performances
Ambi gave his debut orchestral performance at the age of 15 with the Orchestra Nationale du Lille conducted by Maestro Jean-Claude Cassedesus. In the same year, he performed at the Barbican, London, and the Royal Festival Hall for the first time. In 2008, he performed with the Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dr. Michael Koehler. He has also performed with the Orchestra Nationale du Lille, Sinfonia Baltica, the Kwazulu Natal Symphony, and the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra.
In January 2013, Ambi was a soloist with the Seattle Symphony performing Shantipriya, a composition of Dr. L. Subramaniam. In 2014, he performed at the Madison Square Garden, as part of the events accompanying Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech to the Indian American community. In 2015, Ambi performed at the Philharmonie de Paris, a cultural institution in France dedicated to music. He played at the Theatre de la Ville in 2017, and was the youngest Indian soloist to have performed there.
He performed at Chicago's Millennium Park for the first time in 2015 with his father, as part of the Chicago World Music Festival. It was the first time a Carnatic artist performed at the festival. In 2015, he performed in Iceland and in 2017, he performed at the 19th Annual Chicago World Music Festival. In 2018, he performed for External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Luxemburg.