Santoor Recital
By Pandit Shivkumar Sharma
Accompanied by Yogesh Samsi on the tabla and Takahiro Arai on the tanpura

Among Indian classical musicians, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma's eminence rests on his achievement in bringing to the world concert stage the santoor, a folk instrument from Kashmir used to accompany Sufi music. His extensive repertoire includes ragas that deal with divine and secular love in its various manifestations"”unrequited as well as happy. The 100-string santoor is played with a pair of wooden strikers which produce delicate yet lively sounds reminiscent of the piano and the harp. Pandit Shivkumar can make the santoor sound hauntingly beautiful, "˜something like a whisper and a cascade of a waterfall. It creates romantic and pensive moods.' Among other awards, Pandit Shivkumar has won the Padma Vibhushan and the highest award at Reza Shah Pehlvi's Shiraz Festival of Santoors