Akshay Anantapadmanabhan

Akshay Anantapadmanabhan is a reputed and sought after mridangam artiste known for his sensitive musicality and distinct tonality. A senior disciple of Guru Sri. T.H. Subash Chandran, Akshay has performed with the leading names of Carnatic music such as Sudha Raghunathan, Aruna Sairam, Unnikirishnan, T.M. Krishna, Ranjani & Gayatri and Lalgudi GJR Krishnan & Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, to name a few.

Akshay has been invited to perform prestigious festivals such as the Madras Music Academy Margazhi Festival, World Music Festival - Chicago, Ragas Live Festival – New York City, Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival, Sacred Spirit Festival - Jodhpur, to name a few. As an ambassador of the Indian Classical arts, Akshay has also been invited to showcase workshops and masterclasses on Carnatic rhythm at Ted-x New York, ISMIR Bangalore, IIT Madras, ICASSP Vancouver, NYU Abu Dhabi, amd Harvard to name a notable few. Akshay has also authored sixteen academic papers on Indian rhythms in international music technology journals.

With over thirty EPs, albums and releases, Akshay has developed a keen sense of integrating roots of Carnatic tradition in cross-over collaborations. Akshay is the recipient of many awards including recognition for his discovery of the "spotless mridangam", the ‘Best Mridangist’ from the Music Academy Madras, Krishna Gana Sabha, North America Young Musician Award and many others. One of the primary faces of IndianRaga, Akshay is also an educator of Carnatic percussion.