N. Rajam

N. Rajam (born 1938) is an Indian violinist who performs Hindustani classical music. She remained Professor of Music at Banaras Hindu University, eventually became Head of the department and the Dean of the Faculty of Performing Arts of the University.

She was awarded the 2012 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour in the performing arts conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

Early life and training

N. Rajam was born in Ernakulam-Kerala in 1938 in a musical family. Her father, Vidwan A. Narayana Iyer was a well-known exponent of Carnatic Music.^[1] Her brother, T. N. Krishnan, is also a famous violinist. Rajam started her initial training in Carnatic music under her father. She also trained under Musiri Subramania Iyer, and learned raga development from vocalist Pandit Omkarnath Thakur.

Rajam received the prestigious titles of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan 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 (vocal style). 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.

Rajam was a Professor of Music at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in the Faculty of Performing Arts for nearly 40 years. She has been the Chair of the department and the Dean of the college at BHU.

Students

She trained her daughter Sangeeta Shankar, her granddaughters Ragini Shankar, Nandini Shankar, her niece, Kala Ramnath, and Pranav Kumar of Super 30. Many of her students from BHU are famous violinists, including Dr. V. Balaji, Satya Prakash Mohanty, Swarna Khuntia, ^[2][3]Jagan Ramamoorthy and Gouranga Maji.

Awards

• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 1990^[4]
• Padma Shri, 1984^[5]
• Padma Bhushan, 2004^[5]
• Puttaraja Sanmaana, 2004^[6]
• Pune Pandit Award, 2010, by The Art & Music Foundation, Pune, India
• 2012: Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna)^[7]

Discography

• Violin Dynasty (Raga Bageshri)
• Dr. (Mrs.) N. Rajam (Violin Recital)

References

External links

• Dr. N. Rajam at AllMusic