A Few Lesser Known Facts About Santoor Maestro Shivkumar Sharma
The legendarymusician Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma passed away on 10th May, 2022 in Mumbai after suffering a massive cardiac arrest at the age of 84!
He was one of the legendary musicians who took the stringed instrument to the global level through his classical performances over the last half-century. Let us check out a few lesser known facts about this legendary musician…
Well, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma was born in Jammu and he began learning santoor at the age of 13. He gave his first public concert in Mumbai in 1955.
Sharma ji’s mother Uma Dutt was also a vocalist and musician in the Benaras Gharana style. She gave birth to him on 13th January, 1938, in Jammu, India.
Shivkumar Sharma was the first musician to perform Indian classical music on the santoor (a folk instrument).
Sharma ji received ‘Platinum Disc’ each for 1967 Hindustani classical music record ‘Call of the Valley,’ romantic drama film of 1981 ‘Silsila,’ and the 1989 romantic drama film ‘Chandni.
Some of his popular albums made onSantoorare: ‘The Glory Of Strings – Santoor’ (1991), ‘Varsh – A Homage to the Rain Gods’ (1993), ‘Hundred Strings of Santoor’ (1994), ‘The Pioneer of Santoor (1994)’, ‘Sampradaya’ (1999), ‘Vibrant Music for Reiki’ (2003), ‘The Last Word in Santoor’ (2009), and SangeetSartaj’ (2011).
This legendary musician started learning music at the age of five. His father and his guru made him play the Tabla and groomed him as a vocalist!
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1991 and Padma Vibhushan in 2021.
RIP Pandit Shivkumar Sharma