E. M. Subramaniam (died 23 April 2015) was an Indian Carnatic classical

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

. Subramaniam was instructed in

ghatam The ''ghaṭam'' (Sanskrit: घटm ''ghaṭ''; Kannada: ಘಟ ''ghaṭa''; Tamil: கடம் ''ghatam''; Telugu: ఘటం ''ghataṃ''; Malayalam: ഘടം ''ghataṃ'') is a percussion instrument used in various repertoires across the ...

under the tutelage of his father. He has accompanied master percussionists including

mridangam The ''mridangam'' is an ancient percussion instrument originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion in ...

players such as

Palghat Mani Iyer Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer (1912–1981), born Thiruvilvamala Ramaswamy was one of the leading mridangists in the field of Carnatic music. He, along with his contemporaries Palani Subramaniam Pillai and Ramanathapuram C. S. Murugabhoopathy, are ...

, Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, and T. K. Murthy, and

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

players such as Alla Rakha Khan,

Kishan Maharaj Pandit Kishan Maharaj (3 September 1923 – 4 May 2008) was an Indian tabla player who belonged to the Benares gharana of Hindustani classical music. Early life and background Maharaj was born to a Brahmin family of hereditary musicians in Kab ...

, and Zakir Hussain. He has been a grade A ghatam artist of All India Radio for the past 40 years. Subramaniam was awarded the title of "Kalaimamani" in 2000 and recognized with a

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

in ghatam in 2011. His style of playing is compact with great tonal quality. E.M. Subramaniam has worked as a professor in Tamil Nadu Government music college (Adyar). He died on 23 April 2015.

References

Ghatam players Indian percussionists 2015 deaths 1940s births Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award {{Carnatic-music-stub