Viji (Vijayashree Shankar) Subramaniam

Viji Subramaniam
Also known as	Viji Shankar
Born	1952 Madras, India
Died	9 February 1995 (aged 42) Los Angeles, United States
Genres	World, Indian classical, film score
Occupation(s)	Singer, composer
Instruments	Vocals, tambura
Associated acts	Lakshmi Shankar, L. Subramaniam

Viji Subramaniam, also known as Viji Shankar, was the daughter of noted North Indian singer Lakshmi Shankar and Rajendra Shankar, elder brother of sitarist Ravi Shankar. Like her mother and uncle, Viji was a musician and well-trained in both of the Indian classical systems.

Born Vijayashree Shankar in Madras, south India, Viji grew up in Bombay. A singer from an early age, she regularly accompanied her mother in concert, often playing tambura also. Among the prizes she received for her performances as a singer on radio and television, Viji won the All India Radio "President of India" medal in 1972. In his 1997 autobiography, Raga Mala, Shankar describes her voice as "sweet and lovely".

In addition to performing internationally with Lakshmi, she played tambura at some of Shankar's sitar recitals with tablist Alla Rakha during the early 1970s. In 1974, together with her aunt Kamala Chakravarty and Lakshmi, Viji joined Shankar's Music Festival from India, a revue sponsored by George Harrison. She also sang on the studio album Ravi Shankar's Music Festival from India (1976), produced by Harrison and recorded at his English estate, Friar Park. Following the Music Festival's European concerts in September–October 1974, Viji was among the musicians and singers on Shankar's North American tour with Harrison at the end of that year.

Viji received a master's degree in music from the California Institute of the Arts. She met her husband, the noted Indian classical violinist L. Subramaniam, in London in 1974 while they were both participating in the Music Festival from India. The couple married in 1976, at a three-day ceremony held in Bombay.

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