Padma Vibhushan Pandit Shivkumar Sharma Passes Away

Indian music composer and santoor maestro Padma Vibhushan Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma passed away due to cardiac arrest. He was 84. He had been suffering from kidney-related issues for the last six months and was on dialysis. He gave the santoor, once a little known instrument from Jammu and Kashmir, a classical status and exalted it along with other, more traditional and famous instruments such as the sitar and sarod. Pandit Shivkumar Sharma received the prestigious Padma Shri in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001.

The career of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma:

• Born on January 13, 1938, in Jammu, he began learning santoor at the age of thirteen. His first public performance was in Mumbai in 1955. He has been credited with popularising the santoor.  Shiv Kumar was trained as a singer and tabla player by his father Uma Dutt Sharma, who was an accomplished Hindustani vocalist and musician.
• Also, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma composed the background music for one of the scenes in the 1956 film Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje. Four years later, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma recorded his first solo album.
• With Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma composed music for several Hindi films, including Silsila, Chandni as well as Darr.