Papanasam Ashok Ramani

Papanasam Ashok Ramani (born April 10, 1964) is a noted Carnatic vocalist and the grandson of Brahmashri Papanasam Sivan, the legendary Tamil composer honored with the Padma Bhushan and Sangeetha Kalanidhi titles. Son of Dr. Rukmini Ramani, he commenced music training at a very early age with his mother, later studying under Calcutta K.S. Krishnamurthy and Bombay Ramachandran, and was a disciple of Palghat K.V. Narayanaswamy for over 17 years. Also an accomplished mridangam player trained under Kumbakonam Sri Rajappa Iyer, he holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Anna University, Chennai. He is the Founder Director of Sivan Arts Academy, a music school in Chennai training hundreds of students. He has received the Best Junior Vocalist award from The Music Academy Madras, the Isai Peroli title from Karthik Fine Arts (1999), the Youth Excellence award from Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer Trust (1998), and the Isai Bharathi (1994). He performs regularly across the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada.