Akkarai S. Subhalakshmi, a child prodigy, has blossomed into a very prominent artiste. She hails from a musical family. Her grandfather, Suchindram Shri. S. P. Siva Subramaniam, was an eminent musician and a prolific composer. Her grandmother, Smt. R. Sornambal, a Harikatha exponent, was also a music teacher. Her father, Akkarai Shri. S. Swamynathan, has established a music school, "Swara Raga Sudha” and is a veteran violinist.

Subhalakshmi is a disciple of her father Akkarai Shri. S. Swamynathan, whose intensive and unique training methods, helped her debut as a concert violinist & vocalist when she was only eight years old.

Subhalakshmi trained with late Shri. V. Janakiraman for a couple of years and also learnt vocal music from Shri. O. V. Subramanian and his daughter Smt. Padma Natesan in New Delhi. After she moved to Chennai, Subhalakshmi also took training in vocal music under Padma Bhushan Shri. P. S. Narayanaswamy. In 1990, she came under the influence of Chitravina N. Ravikiran and has since been receiving advanced music training from him. All these have enabled Subhalakshmi to create a style of her own on the violin, blending vocal and instrumental techniques into her playing. Besides teaching, Shri. Ravikiran also encourages Subhalakshmi as an accompanist in several prestigious concerts.

Subhalakshmi is an A-graded artiste of All India Radio, Chennai. She had blossomed into a much sought after violinist. She has accompanied reputed and leading artistes like Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Dr. N. Ramani, Shri. S. Shashank, Hyderabad Sisters, Shri. P. Unnikrishnan, Shri. T. M. Krishna and many other artistes. She has also been part of jugalbandi and fusion concerts with Shri. N. Ravikiran, teaming up with artistes like Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Pandit Taron Bhattacharya, Pandit Ronu Majumdar and-Purbhayan Chatterjee.

She has performed extensively all over the world and has been featured in prestigious events like the Indo-Russian Cultural Exchange Program (1996), Theatre de 1a. Ville Festival (Paris), Cleveland Festival (USA), Farewell Concert for Zubin Mehta (Munich) and Mahatma Gandhi Institute Sangeeth Utsav (Mauritius) and has performed both as a soloist and as an accompanist in many other countries like Japan, Singapore, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Bahrain, Muscat, London, Canada, Seoul and-New Zealand.

Several awards and titles have come her way. Rajiv Gandhi Yuva Puraskar from the President of India in the year 1996, Kala Bhushan, Kalashree, Sangeeta Visharada, Isai Kuil, Delhi State First award, Outstanding Young Violinist Award from the Music Academy in 1999, 2001, 2006 & 2007, Inspiring Child Artiste award from Valayapatti Naadalayaa (1999), Best Performance Award from the Music Academy (2000), Best Violinist Award from the Indian Fine Arts Society (2001), Best Violinist of the Year (2001) was awarded by the writer Sujatha in the Tamil weekly magazine Ananda Vikatan, Youth Merit Award from the Rotary Club of Madras Industrial City (2002), Yuva Kala Bharathi Award from Bharat Kalachar(2002) and Naada Oli from Naada Inbam (2005). She was spotted as one of India's 50 emerging stars in an issue of ‘The Week' magazine, Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Award by Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Trust (September 2007), the prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan National Award from Sangeeth Natak Academy (2007), the Tag Award for the Tag Corporation of India (2008), the Outstanding Artiste of the Year (2009) and the Shanmukha Shironmani Award for the Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha Mumbai (2009) along with her sister.

She has released many albums both in vocal and violin - Keeravani & Varali Ragam Thanam Pallavi CD, a violin duet album to name a few. She also performs violin and vocal duet concerts with her younger sister, Akkarai S. Sornalatha, who has followed the noteworthy pattern set by her sister, and is also a very promising and talented young violinist and vocalist.

Subhalakshmi attributes all her credentials to her guru and father, Shri. Akkarai S. Swamynathan, who pioneered her to the field of music.