Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

Born in Jammu, Shivkumar Sharma to the singer Uma Dutt Sharma, Shivkumar started learning tabla and vocals when he was just five. In a later interview, Shivkumar said that Uma Dutt Sharma did “extensive research” on Santoor, and decided that Shivkumar should be the first musican to play Indian Classical Music on Santoor. So he started learning Santoor at the age of thirteen and made Uma Dutt Sharma’s dream come true. He gave his first public performance in Bombay in 1955.

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, Shivkumar 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] He composed the background music for one of the scenes in Shantaram’s Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje[11] in 1956. He recorded his first solo album in 1960.[1]
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[12] 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 that were big musical hits are Faasle (1985), Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991) and Darr (1993).

Sharma married Manorama[9][13] and has three sons.[8] His son, Rahul,[14][15] is also a Santoor Player[16][17] and they have performed together since 1996.[8] In a 1999 interview to rediff.com, Shivkumar stated that he chose Rahul as his shishya because he thought he had the “gift of God”.[8]
Awards
Shivkumar is the recipient of national and international awards, including an honorary citizenship of the city of Baltimore, USA, in 19

According to me Indian Classical Music is not only for Entertainment, it is much more beyond that. Spirituality and Indian Classical Music are two sides of the same coin. In India the origin of Indian Classical Music was in the spiritual traditions of the Country. Music that creates Spiritual Bliss, for the Performer and is shared by the Listeners is the essence of this Art Form even today. It was my life long dream to play such kind of music which will make the listeners forget to clap; which will make them slient. My dream came true, once, I played one raga, while the listeners immersed deep into meditation and I experienced a state of thoughtlessness. This silence was so nourishing, so fulfilling, there was no need to play anything else.