| Shashank | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Shashank Subramanyam |
| Born | October 14, 1978 Hassan district, India, |
| Genres | Carnatic / Indian classical music |
| Occupations | flute player |
| Instruments | Flute |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Website | Official site |
| Notable instruments | |
| Bamboo flute (Bansuri) | |
Shashank Subramanyam (Tamil Kannada: ಶಶಾಂಕ್ ಸುಬ್ರಮಣ್ಯಂ ) is a classical flautist of India.[1] He was a child prodigy and started performing from his age of seven. Shashank has performed in the top slot / circuit from his age of 11.
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Shashank Subramanyam, belonging to the Iyer community from Senkottah (Tamil Nadu) known as Sankethis, was born in Rudrapatna in the Hassan district of Karnataka, India to Hemalatha and Subramnayam. He was trained by his father and by the singers R.K. Srikantan, Palghat K.V. Narayanaswami, Sandyavandanam Srinivasa Rao and Pandit Jasraj.[2] Shashank is married to Shirisha, a Bharatanatyam dancer. Shashank and Shirisha have a daughter "Swara" and live in Chennai, India.[3]
While, Shashank performed for the general public in 1985 for the first time at the age of 7, his public life / full time career as a musician began with a performance in Adelaide, Australia in 1990 followed by his major performance at Shastri hall in Dec of 1990.[4] His career-defining moment came when the Music Academy invited Shashank, just 12 years old, to perform the top most slot "SADAS" concert at The Music Academy, Chennai January 1, 1991 - a record that is yet to be broken. Shashank has been a senior flautist in the field of Carnatic Music and has collaborated with many musicians from India and around the world including John McLaughlin, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Sultan Khan, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ronu Mazumdar, Ustad Shujaat Khan[5]
Shashank performs in a wide range of concert environments from the pure Indian classical, Symphonies, Jazz and cross over projects. He has lead many ensembles and also has been a guest artist on many famed bands.
Shashank’s main style is Carnatic classical but incorporates patterns of improvisation from Hindustani music and uses a range of flutes to cover octaves that are not supported by the traditional Carnatic flute. Shashank is known for his intricate and intense alapanas (Improvisations), melodious keerthana ( composition) renderings and pulsating kalpanaswaram (Faster and rhythmic improvisations). His concerts generally include a Ragam Tanam Pallavi as a central piece, normally composed by Shashank himself. Shashank has used the technique of multi flute transposed fingering technique and dual octave production.[6]
The BBC World TV did a documentary on Shashank titled Destination Music, recently.
Shashank was awarded a direct A" Grade ranking in the All India Radio and Doordarshan (TV) in 1993.
The National Integration Award ( Spirit of Unity series) - 1991.
Rotary award of excellence 1995.
Empaneled artist of the ICCR under Outstanding and senior category since 1995.
A recipient of the Kalaimamani from the Tamil Nadu Government in the year 2000.
Shashank is one of the youngest recipients of the A Top ranking in the All India Radio and Doordarshan (TV).
Kuzhal Arasar by Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Chicago.
Grammy Nomination for the album Floating Point with John McLaughlin - 2009
Rashtrapathi Bhavan (The President's Palace at New Delhi), Sawai Gandharva Festival-Pune, ganga Mahotsav-Haridwar, Saptak_Ahmedabad, Navi Mumbai Sageet Utsav, NCPA - Mumbai, Vishnu Digambar Festival-Delhi, Ravishankar Center-Delhi, Harivallabh Sangeet Samora-Jallandhar, the Music Academy-Chennai, Chowdiah Memorial Hall-Bangalore, India Music Group - Bombay, The Mysore Palace Ramakrishna Mission-Calcutta, Dover Lane Festival Calcutta, ITC SRA Festival-Delhi, Krishna Gana Sabha-Chennai, The Smithsonian, Kennedy Center and National Academy of Sciences in Washington D.C., J. Paul Getty Hall -Hollywood, Cerritos Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles, Eastman School of Music - Rochester, World Music Institute - New York, Asian Art Museum - San Francisco, Amadeus Mozart Conservatory-Salzburg, Austria, UC Los Angeles, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, San Diego State University, UC Irvine, Arizona State University - Tempe, University of Arizona-Tucson, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at Arlington, Texas Tech-Lubbock, University of North Texas-Denton, University of Chicago, University of West Virginia, University of Illinois - Urbana, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Maryland-College Park, University of Florida-Jacksonville, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Duke University- Durham, North Eastern University - Chicago, North Western University- Evanston, Royal College of Music - London, Leicester University - UK, University of Washington - Seattle, University of Washington - Pullman, University of Oregon - Eugene, Oregon State University - Corvallis, University of Oklahoma-Norman, Carniegi Melon University-Pittsburgh, Harvard and MIT at Boston, Wesleyan University- Connecticut, Yale University, Stanford University, University of Cincinnati, Rice University-Houston, Florida State University - Tampa, Drexel University, Drake University-Des Moines, Iowa State University-Ames, Colgate University, University of Pennsylvania- Philadelphia, Rutgers University-NJ, Texas A&M College Station, St. Thomas University-Houston, University of Louisiana-New Orleans, University of Alabama, Cornell University, Amherst College, Emory University - Atlanta, Georgia Tech, University of Tenn-Knoxville, Berkeley College of Music-Boston, SUNY Buffalo, Concordia University-Montreal, University of Calgary, Guilford College, Arizona State University-Flagstaff, Lausanne Conservatory-Switzerland, Xebec Hall and Across Fukuoka in Kobe and Fukuoka, Japan, Women's University- Osaka, Japan, Tsuyama Jazz Festival-Japan, Hong Kong Museum of Art - Hong Kong, World Flute Conference - Nashville, Theater De- La-Ville, UNESCO & Musee Guimet in Paris -France, Tropical Institute - Amsterdam, Music Gebou-Amsterdam, Rasa house of World Culture-Antwerp-Belgium, University of NSW, Sydney, Mcquarie University-Sydney, Monash University-Melbourne, University of Darwin, SUNY-Long Island, Judith Wright Center- Brisbane, Port Fairy Folk Festival-Australia, Darwin Entertainment Center-Darwin, University of Auckland, New Zealand, Richard Strauss Conservatory-Munich, WDR-Cologne, Bayriche Radio - Munich and Nurnberg, Rytmisk Conservatory-Copenhagen, Opera House-Copenhagen, University of Uppsala-Sweden, The Club in Oslo-Norway, International Book Fair-Torino-Italy, World Sacred Music Festivals- France, Germany and Belgium, The Lowry in Manchester-UK, The Sage in Gateshead - UK, Modigliani Hall -Padova-Italy, Museum Rietberg -Zurich, The Munchen Residency in Munich-Germany, SLF Auditorium, Singapore, Singapore Radio, Esplanade Theater-Singapore, Putra World Trade Center - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, The Adelaide Festival- Australia, Improvisation Festival in Lausanne - Switzerland, Seoul Plaza in Seoul - Korea, Les Oriental Festival -France, Fesitval of Nantes-France, Abbaye Royal Du Fontevraud in Samur -France, Royal Society Flute Conference in Manchester-UK, Oriental Festival in Evora, Portugal, The Meyrin Forum in Geneva, Trondheim Festival, Norway and a host of other institutions across the world.
US, Canada, UK, Spain, Portugal, France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong and Korea.
He has released over 50CDs and 2 DVDs.
