Shashank Subramanyam (born 14 October 1978) is a flutist from India and specializes in Indian classical music. The Govt. of France awarded the prestigious Knighthood / title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is also the youngest recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi's senior award by Govt. of India bestowed by the Hon. President of India for the year 2017 at an investiture ceremony held at Rashtrapathi Bhavan in New Delhi. He was a child prodigy and began performing from his age of 6 in 1984 and has performed for over three decades. Early life Shashank Subramanyam was born in Rudrapatna, India to Hemalatha and Subramanyam. His forefathers belong to Tirunelveli dist of Tamil Nadu. He was trained in Carnatic music by his father, Palghat K.V. Narayanaswami, and Hindustani music under Pandit Jasraj. Shashank is married to Shirisha, a Bharatanatyam dancer. He had no Gurus for Flute playing and was self taught. Shashank and Shirisha have a daughter Swara and son Samvit and live in Chennai, India. Performing career Shashank performed in public for the first time in 1984 at the age of six. Shashank began performing at the top circuit in 1990 with major performances in Adelaide, Australia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and in Singapore followed by his major performance at Shastri hall in December 1990. His career-defining moment came when the Music Academy invited Shashank, just 12 years old, to perform in the senior most performance slot "SADAS concert" at The Music Academy, Chennai 1 January 1991. Shashank has worked extensively presenting collaborative performances with host of musicians from India and around the world including John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia, Wuppertal and Shanxi Symphony Orchestras, Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, The New Jungle Orchestra, Mikkel Nordso, Terry Riley, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Zakir Hussain, Ustad Sultan Khan, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ronu Mazumdar, Ustad Shujaat Khan, and Debu Choudhury. Shashank performs in a wide range of concert environments from the pure Indian classical, Symphonies, Jazz, Films and crossover projects. He has led many ensembles and also has been a guest artist on many famed bands like Remember Shakti, New Jungle Orchestra, Blue Lotus, etc. The BBC World TV did a documentary on Shashank titled Destination Music in 2006 and the CNN international TV featured Shashank's performance and interview as part of the Travel Logue India show. Shashank has performed for many Hon. Presidents of India including R. Venkatraman,