Happy Birthday, Shiv Kumar Sharma!

The Indian musician turns 80 today and during his life he was given many different titles: Pandit, santoor legend, popstar oder elder statesman of Indian Classical music. It is only due to his efforts that santoor has reached this height.
When he was born in Jammu in 1938, the instrument was just a part of the local folk tradition and quite meaningless outside the Kashmir Valley. But Shiv Kumar Sharma developed new techniques and modified the instrument to play classical raga with it. He gave unexpected sounds and expressions  to the santoor so it could make its way to the concert halls. International success was sped up, when he accompanied Ravi Shankar on tours to the US and Europe in 1968 and the 1970s. Now finally Shiv Kumar Sharma will come to Rudolstadt together with his son Rahul, already a santoor virtuoso in his own right.

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