Legendary musician and santoor maestro Pandit Shivkumar Sharma passed away on May 10 (Tuesday) in Mumbai. He was 84.
According to several media reports, he was suffering from kidney-related issues for the last six months and was on dialysis. He passed away due to cardiac arrest.
He is survived by wife Manorama and two sons, one of whom, Rahul Sharma, is also an accomplished santoor player.
Shivkumar Sharma is credited with making the santoor a popular classical instrument. He reportedly composed the background music for one of the scenes in Shantaram’s film ‘Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje’ in 1956 and recorded his first solo album in 1960.
In 1967, he teamed up with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and guitarist Brij Bhushan Kabra to produce a concept album, ‘Call of the Valley’.
In collaboration with Hariprasad Chaurasia, he reportedly composed music for several Hindi films like ‘Silsila’, ‘Faasle’, ‘Chandni’, ‘Lamhe’ and Darr.
