Dr. Ravi Balasubramanian is the most sought-after Ghatam artiste in North America and is known for his energetic and sensitive accompaniment and solos. With over five hundred concerts, Ravi has extensive experience in Carnatic percussion, including performing on the Ghatam at top musical institutions such as the Chennai Music Academy and the Cleveland Aradhana for over sixteen years. He received the title Yuva Kala Bharathi in 2003 from Bharat Kalachar, a music organization in Chennai, for excellence and dedication in the art of Ghatam. Ravi has expanded the envelope of using the Ghatam in music, when he presented a “GhataTarang” concert with seven Ghatams as the lead melody and percussion instrument for the first time outside India. Ravi has had the rare honor and experience of performing with leading artistes including Sangitha Kalanidhi vocalists, violinists, flautists, and mridangists in India, USA, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia.

Ravi received his initial tutelage from Palghat Sri P. K. Sekar and Sangitha Kalanidhi Dr. T.K.Murthy and later pursued advanced training from Sri V.Suresh in Chennai, India. Ravi has given lecture-demonstrations on the Ghatam in the University of Pittsburgh and Chatham college in Pensylvania, and has been featured in several local and national media articles. He is also Guru to several students in USA, guiding them in the vast ocean of Indian percussion theory and performance. He recently published an article in Sruti magazine, India’s leading arts magazine, that was extremely well-received. Ravi received his doctorate in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University and is a tenured Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR.