Prof. 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 one thousand five hundred concerts, Ravi has extensive experience in Carnatic percussion, including performing the Ghatam at top musical institutions such as the Madras Music Academy and the Cleveland Aradhana for over thirty years. He has received numerous awards and titles for excellence and dedication to the art of the Ghatam and Carnatic music, including the title Nada Layopasaka from the Indo-American Academy for Classical Music and the Best Ghatam Artiste (sub-senior group) from the Madras Music Academy both in 2025 and the Prof. T.R. Subrahmanyam Best Teacher Award from the Cleveland Aradhana in 2026.  Ravi has expanded the envelope of using the Ghatam in music, when he presented special “GhataTarang” concerts 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 in Chennai, India.  He later trained under Ghatam maestro Sri V. Suresh. Ravi has given lecture-demonstrations on the Ghatam in Yale University, Wesleyan University, 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 numerous students in USA, guiding them in the vast ocean of Indian percussion theory and performance. He has published articles in magazines such as Sruti, India’s leading arts magazine. Ravi received his doctorate in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University and has won several national awards in robotics. He is currently a tenured professor at Oregon State University.

Artists performed with include Sangitha Kalanidhi Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Sangitha Kalanidhi Dr. N. Ramani, Sangitha Kalanidhi Sri T. K. Govinda Rao, Sangitha Kalanidhi Nedunuri Sri Krishnamurthy, Sangitha Kalanidhi Sri R. K. Srikantan, Sangitha Kalanidhi Smt. Vedavalli, Sangitha Kalanidhi Sri T.N. Krishnan, Sangitha Kalanidhi Sri. M. Chandrasekharan, Sangitha Kalanidhi Dr. T. K. Murthy, Sangitha Kalanidhi Vellore Sri Ramabhadran, Sangitha Kalanidhi Sri Ravikiran, Sangitha Kalanidhi Sri Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Srimushnam Sri Raja Rao, Guruvayur Sri Dorai, Sangitha Kalanidhi Smt. Sudha Raghunathan, Sangitha Kalanidhi Smt. Aruna Sairam, Sangitha Kalanidhi Padma Shri Thiruvaarur Sri Bhakthavatsalam, Neyveli Sri Santhanagopalan, Smt. Nithyashree, Patri Sri Satish, Smt. Ranjani and Gayatri, Sri Ganesh and Sri Kumaresh, and Padma Shri Prof. Yella Venkateswara Rao among others.

Earlier awards for excellence and dedication in the art of Ghatam include the following:

• Neelakanta Sivan Pazhani Krishna Iyer Award from Neelakanta Sivan Cultural Academy in 2019

• Yuva Kala Bharathi in 2003 from Bharat Kalachar

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