Early life

N. Rajam was born in Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

 in a musical family to Vidwan A. Narayana Iyer. Her brother is violinist T. N. Krishnan. Rajam started her initial training in carnatic music

Carnatic music

Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...

 under her father. She also trained under Musiri Subramaniam Iyer, and learned raga

Raga

A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...

 development from the vocalist Pandit Omkarnath Thakur.

Rajam received the prestigious titles of Padmashri and Padmabhushan from the Government of India. People often refer to her music as the "Singing Violin".

Performing career

Rajam started playing violin at age three. By the age of nine, she was a professional musician. With guidance of her father, A. Narayana Iyer, she developed the Gayaki Ang. Rajam has performed across the globe and in numerous places throughout India. She has performed in various countries in Europe, extensively toured the USA and Canada, and performed in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Netherlands, to name a few.

In BHU, Rajam was on the staff of the Faculty of Performing Arts for nearly 40 years. She has worked as Dean and Head of Department in Banaras Hindu University.

Students

She has trained her niece, Kala Ramnath

Kala Ramnath

Kala Ramnath , is an Indian violinist. She belongs to the Mewati gharana. She was awarded the Jasraj award in 1999.-Early life:...

, her daughter Sangeeta Shankar, Pranav Kumar of Super 30

Super 30

Super 30 is an Indian educational program that started in Patna, Bihar, India under the banner of 'Ramanujan School of Mathematics', by Anand Kumar. Established in 2002, the program selects 30 meritorious and talented candidates each year from economically backward sections of society and trains...

 and her granddaughters Ragini Shankar, Nandini Shankar. Many students from Banaras Hindu University like Satya Prakash Mohanty, V.Balaji,Swarna Khuntia.

Awards

• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
  Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
  Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award consists since 2003 of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram , and a tamrapatra...
  
  , 1990
• Padma Shri
  Padma Shri
  Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
  
  , 1984
• Padma Bhushan
  Padma Bhushan
  The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
  
  , 2004
• Puttaraja Sanmaana, 2004
• Pune Pandit Award, 2010, by The Art & Music Foundation, Pune, India

External links