Bindu Subramaniam

A singer/songwriter, entrepreneur, author and music educator.
Bindu has been described as a “third generation prodigy” by the Hindustan Times, “a Bangalore woman changing the way children learn” by Femina Karnataka magazine and an “assured young soprano” by the Times of India. In 2012, she appeared on the list of 12 gen-next achievers in Verve Magazine.

She has performed around the world, and her first solo album was critically acclaimed and nominated for a GiMA.

Bindu is the Dean of the Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts (SaPa), an institute that trains musically inclined children to become professional performers. In 2014, she started the SaPa in Schools program, an initiative to integrate music into the mainstream academic curriculum. SaPa in Schools works with over 25,000 children across India (as of 2018).

She is the daughter of violinist Dr. L. Subramaniam, and has collaborated with him on a number of releases including Global Fusion, Visions of India and Athens. Along with her brother Ambi Subramaniam, she started a contemporary world music band, SubraMania in 2013. In 2018, she created The Thayir Sadam Project with Ambi, Carnatic fusion artist Mahesh Raghvan and mridangam player Akshay Ananthapadmanabhan.

Music career and performances

Bindu wrote her first song at 7, and first performed on stage in Norway when she was 12 years old. She won honourable mentions at the 16th and 17th Billboard World Song Contest for her original compositions and was a semi-finalist in the performance category of the Unisong World Song Contest.

In 2010, she was part of Dr. L. Subramaniam’s ensemble that won a GiMA for Best Fusion Album for the album Live in Leipzig. She released her first solo album, Surrender, in 2011, which was nominated for a GiMA in the category of Best Pop/Rock Album.

In 2013, Bindu started a fusion band, SubraMania, along with Ambi Subramaniam. SubraMania has performed live in many cities across India and toured in seven European countries. The band has collaborated with Hubert Laws, Oystein Baadsvik, Lesle Lewis, and Bollywood composer Aadesh Srivastav. SubraMania’s music has been described as a “mammoth success” by the Asian Age, and their performance at the Jaipur Literature Festival in 2018 was described as “one of the major highlights” of the festival by Firstpost.

In 2018, Bindu and Ambi collaborated with Carnatic fusion artist Mahesh Raghvan to create The Thayir Sadam Project. The Thayir Sadam Project has released tracks in collaboration with Carnatic singing duo Ranjani-Gayathri, and created an Indian cover of A Million Dreams to promote the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. They have been described as “a talented troupe” by the Times of India (Economic Times), and have performed live in major Indian cities. As of 2018, The Thayir Sadam Project has conducted workshops with over 5000 students, teaching them global music and promoting initiatives like the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) via the 10,000 deeds campaign.

Music education

Bindu is the Dean of Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts (SaPa), an institute of Indian and global music founded by Dr. L Subramaniam and Kavita Krishnamurti in 2007. Bindu took over as Dean in 2011, and created a curriculum that would train children as young as three years old to learn music. She founded the SaPa in Schools program in 2014, as an initiative to integrate music into the mainstream academic curriculum. The program works with 30,000 children as of 2020.

Bindu’s goal for SaPa in Schools was to create an ecosystem for music education in India. The program was supported by the Infosys Foundation and is currently partnered with the Akshaya Patra Foundation.

Bindu co-hosts The SaPa Show, a weekly television program aimed at teaching children Indian and global music. Earlier in 2019, she co-authored India’s first series of textbooks dedicated to teaching the Indian violin. She is currently working on offering undergraduate courses in music education, technology, and performance.

Bindu writes a bi-monthly column called “Noteworthy” in the New Indian Express.

Education

Bindu has a bachelor’s degree in Law from Jain University, a master’s degree in law from the University of London, a master’s certificate in songwriting and music business from Berklee Music, a diploma in Montessori education from NAMC and a PhD in music education.

Awards and achievements

Bindu has received Honourable Mentions at the Billboard World Song Contest and was a finalist in the performance category of the Unisong International Song Contest. She was nominated for a GiMA (Indian equivalent of the Grammys) for Best Pop Rock Album in 2011 and won a GiMA for Best Fusion Album – Live at Neues Gewandhaus, Leipzig in 2010.

She is a member of the All India Management Association‘s Young Leaders Council, and was a delegate of the Australia India Youth Dialogue in 2018. She was also invited to Israel in 2018, as part of the delegation that contributed to advancing India-Israeli ties.

Personal life

Bindu was born as Seetaa Subramaniam in Los Angeles, California, to violinist L. Subramaniam and vocalist Vijayashree (Viji) Subramaniam. She has two brothers: violinist Ambi Subramaniam and Dr. Narayana Subramaniam – head and neck oncologist, author and musician. She moved to Bangalore, India with her family in 1996, after the death of her mother. Her father married Bollywood playback singer Kavita Krishnamurti in 1999.

She legally changed her name from Seetaa to Bindu in 2009.

Bindu is married to Sanjeev Nayak, Swarathma‘s lead violinist. She has a daughter, Mahati Subramaniam, born in 2011, who recorded her first solo song in 2018.

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