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Gingger Shankar Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated September 29, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

BirthplaceLos Angeles, United States

ProfessionMusician

NationalityAmerican

Marital statusUnmarried

FamilyFather: L Subramaniam; Mother: Viji Subramaniam; Grandfather: V. Lakshminarayana; Grandmother: Lakshmi Shankar; Siblings: Dr. Narayana Subramaniam, Ambi Subramaniam, Bindu Subramaniam

Gingger Shankar Biography

Gingger Shankar is an American-born multi-instrumentalist, composer and singer-songwriter from a distinguished musical family. Known for mastering the 10‑/

Early life and background

Gingger Shankar was born in Los Angeles and spent much of her childhood between Madras (Chennai), Calcutta and Bombay. She comes from a prominent musical family: her father is violinist Dr. L. Subramaniam and her mother was classical singer Viji Subramaniam. Her grandmother was vocalist Lakshmi Shankar and her grandfather was musician V. Lakshminarayana. Gingger is the eldest daughter in a musical household that also includes siblings who are musicians.

She studied at Kalakshetra creative arts school in Chennai and later received opera vocal training from professional opera singer Tantoo Cardinal in Sherman Oaks, California. From an early age she learned to sing, dance and play violin and piano, and began performing publicly as a teenager.

Career

Gingger Shankar has built a career as a singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist. She performs vocals and plays violin, viola and the double violin — a 10‑string instrument she is widely associated with. She has described the double violin as spanning the range of an orchestra and as an instrument that became central to her live performances and soundtrack work.

Her recording and film work spans independent and mainstream projects. She contributed to the score of The Passion of the Christ (2004) alongside John Debney, and worked on The Forbidden Kingdom (2008). She composed songs for the film Circumstance, which won the Sundance Audience Award in 2011, and wrote music for Brahmin Bulls (2014) and Heartbeats (2018). In 2013 she scored the thriller Monsoon Shootout, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and she also composed music for the virtual reality documentary Project Syria, which premiered at Sundance in 2015.

Gingger has released and collaborated on albums and recordings with a range of artists. She appears on the 2003 album Enlightenment with L. Shankar, Zakir Hussain and Vikku Vinayakram. She released music with Saul Williams in 2008, and has credits on other projects including an EP titled Anywhere But Here. In 2012 she debuted a live-film project called Himalaya Song at the Sundance Film Festival, a multimedia work she created with Mridu Chandra and the Shanghai Restoration Project. Rolling Stone later named Himalaya Song among its picks for best music films at Sundance.

Her performance credits include singing and playing at major venues and with notable artists. As a teenage performer she appeared at Madison Square Garden and later made classical performance appearances with ensembles including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at Carnegie Hall. She has worked or performed with a diverse set of musicians and artists spanning genres and disciplines.

Public profile

Gingger Shankar is active as a public speaker on topics such as girls’ education, women’s empowerment and environment. She has appeared on stages including TEDx and has been invited to platforms such as Davos, UNESCO, the Nobel Prize Summit, the Carbon Footprint Summit and the Cartier Women’s Initiative. She served on the Sundance Film Festival’s Artist Advisory Board and is associated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

She founded the non-profit Little Indian Girl to provide sponsorships and scholarships for young Indian artists in areas such as science, music and leadership. Her projects Promises of Our Grandmothers and Nari document women’s experiences and artistic struggles, including stories from her mother and grandmother.

Gingger is a co-founder of Naughty Horses Records, a label that releases music by women artists and preserves global classical recordings, including archival material from the Shankar family.

Latest updates

In 2018 she produced the documentary Akicita: The Battle of Standing Rock, which was screened at Sundance. In 2020 she released the album And She Could Be Next featuring artists such as Aloe Blacc, Tarriona ‘Tank’ Ball and Saul Williams, and co-directed and produced election-focused spots for South Asian communities. She composed the song “Promises of Our Grandmothers,” which was featured at the Nobel Prize Summit in 2021.

In June 2022 Gingger became the first Indian musician credited as a composer on a Marvel project when she co-wrote the track Rozi for the Ms. Marvel soundtrack, a song co-written with Pakistani rapper Eva B. The project blended South Asian hip-hop influences and marked a new collaboration across regional styles.

Gingger remains active on social media and in public-facing creative work, continuing to release music, score films and participate in speaking engagements that connect her artistic practice with social and environmental causes.
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Recent Work

Akicita: The Battle of Standing Rock

Produced documentary screened at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

2018
And She Could Be Next

Album released in 2020 featuring Aloe Blacc, Tarriona ‘Tank’ Ball and Saul Williams.

2020
Rozi (Ms. Marvel soundtrack)

Co-wrote and co-composed the track for the Marvel project Ms. Marvel, released in 2022.

2022
Circumstance

Composed songs for the film which won the Sundance Audience Award in 2011.

2011
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Career Highlights

  1. Multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter known for the double violin
  2. Composed music for award-winning and festival-selected films including Circumstance, Monsoon Shootout and Project Syria
  3. Presented the live-film Himalaya Song at Sundance and recognized by Rolling Stone and Filmmaker Magazine
  4. Produced the documentary Akicita: The Battle of Standing Rock and released the album And She Could Be Next
  5. First Indian musician credited as composer on a Marvel project (Ms. Marvel)
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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Gingger Shankar known for?

Musician

What is Gingger Shankar’s marital status?

Unmarried