Dr L Subramaniam is one of India’s most prominent classical musicians. He also ranks among the most erudite. He holds an MBBS from Madras Medical College (he even practised medicine for some time before devoting himself full time to music). He followed this up with a Master’s degree in Western classical music from the California Institute of the Arts. In 2017, he received a Ph.D. from JAIN University, Bengaluru. His wife, the late Viji Subramaniam, came from a musically prominent family whose members included her Hindustani vocalist mother Lakshmi Shankar, and her paternal uncle the Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. She herself held much promise as a musician, but her life was cut short at the tragically young age of forty-two.

Carnatic and Hindustani Music: Origins, History and Structure
Abhik Majumdar
CLASSICAL MUSIC OF INDIA: A PRACTICAL GUIDE by By L. Subramaniam and Viji Subramaniam Westland/Tranquebar, 2025, 218 pp., INR ₹ 599.00
June 2025, volume 49, No 6