Birthday: January 13, 1938 (Capricorn)
Born In: Jammu, India
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma
(Composer)
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma was an Indian classical musician and a renowned ‘Santoor’ player. Born to a trained vocalist and tabla player, he was destined to become a classical musician from an early age. His father recognized the `potential in a folk instrument ‘Santoor’ and encouraged him to learn playing it. Shivkumar Sharma became famous because of his improvisations with santoor and the way he revolutionized it as one of the most riveting classical instruments. He is accredited for making the santoor a popular classical instrument. He introduced the new chromatic arrangement of notes and increased the range to cover full three octaves. He also improvised a new technique of playing with which he could sustain notes and maintain sound continuity. He is the sole musician to have brought santoor at par with other classical instruments and established it across the globe with his sheer brilliance and conviction. He is among those rare classical musicians who have been able to achieve success in the world of film music as well. His compositions for blockbusters such as ‘Silsila’ and ‘Chandni’ are a manifestation of his musical brilliance. With his creative genius, he created a new genre of instrumental music. Through his performances over a period of more than half a century, he created millions of new listeners and ardent fans of Indian classical music. His music will continue to enthral the coming generations.
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