Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

Shivkumar Sharma

Sharma performing in Pune, 17 July 2009
Background information
Born January 13, 1938 (age 72)
Jammu Jammu & Kashmir
Origin Dogra from Jammu, India
Genres Hindustani classical music
Instruments santoor
Years active 1955–present
Associated acts Rahul Sharma
Website www.santoor.com
Shivkumar Sharma (born January 13, 1938, Jammu, India) is an Indian santoor player. The santoor is a folk instrument from the valley of Kashmir. Sharma is often referred to by the title Pandit.

1 Early life
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 Awards
4.1 Awards (classical and film)
5 Discography
6 References
7 External links
Early life

Born in Jammu to the singer Uma Dutt Sharma. In a 1999 interview to rediff.com, Sharma said that his father started teaching him vocals and tabla when he was just five.He goes on to say that Uma Dutt Sharma did "extensive research" on santoor and decided that Shivkumar should be the first musician to play Indian classical music on santoor. So he started learning santoor at the age of 13. and made Uma Dutt Sharma's dream come true.[1] He gave his first public performance in Bombay in 1955. His mother tongue is Dogri.


Career



Sharma in 1988
Shivkumar Sharma is the master instrumentalist of the santoor, after some years as a vocalist. He is credited with making the santoor a popular classical instrument.[4][10] In a 1999 interview to rediff.com, Sharma said that it was his father who decided that he should play the santoor and that he never thought he would be choosing it when he started learning music.[8] Sharma recorded his first solo album in 1960. Sharma composed the music of Shantaram's Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (1965).
In 1967, he teamed up with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and Brij Bhushan Kabra to produce a concept album, Call of the Valley (1967) which turned out to be one of the greatest hits in Indian classical music.[1][10] He has composed music for many Hindi films in collaboration with Hariprasad Chaurasia starting with Silsila[11] (1980). They came to be known as the 'Shiv-Hari' music duo.[11] Some of the movies they composed music for which were big musical hits are Faasle (1985), Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991) and Darr (1993).
[edit]Personal life

Sharma married Manorama and has two sons.[8] His son, Rahul, is also a santoor player and they perform together since 1996. In a 1999 interview to rediff.com, Sharma stated that he chose Rahul as his shishya because he thought he had the "gift of God".

Awards

Sharma is the recipient of national and international awards, including an honorary citizenship of the city of Baltimore, USA, in 1985, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986,[19] the Padma Shri in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001.

Awards (classical and film)
Platinum Disc for Call of the Valley
Platinum Disc for music of film Silsila
Gold Disc for music of film Faasle
Platinum Disc for music of film Chandni
Special Award for outstanding music and sale of film Lamhe
Special Award for outstanding music and sale of film Darr
[edit]Discography

Call of the Valley, with Brij Bhushan Kabra and Hariprasad Chaurasia (1967)
The Glory Of Strings - Santoor (1991), T-Series
Raga Bhopali vol I (1993)
Raga Kedari vol II (1993)
Hundred Strings of Santoor (1994)
Hypnotic Santoor (1994)
The Pioneer of Santoor (1994)
Raag Bilaskhani Todi (1994)
Santoor (Raag Rageshri) (1998)
Sampradaya (1999)
Vibrant Music for Reiki (2003)
Sympatico (Charukeshi - Santoor)(2004)
The Inner Path (Kirvani - Santoor) (2004)