India’s santoor maestro Shivkumar Sharma dies at 84

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, an Indian music composer and santoor player, died in Mumbai at the age of 84.

He had been suffering from kidney-related issues for the last six months and was on dialysis. He passed away due to cardiac arrest, according to The Indian Express.

Sharma gave the santoor, once a little known instrument from Jammu and Kashmir, a classical status and exalted it along with other traditional and famous instruments such as the sitar and sarod.

He composed music with flute legend Hariprasad Chaurasia for an array of films such as Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni as well as Darr.

Born in Jammu, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma began learning santoor at the age of thirteen. His first public performance was in Mumbai in 1955.

Also, Sharma composed the background music for one of the scenes in the 1956 film Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje. Four years later, he recorded his first solo album.

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma collaborated with flutist Hariprasad Chaurasia and guitarist Brij Bhushan Kabra in 1967, and together, they produced the acclaimed concept album “Call of the Valley”.

Sharma received the prestigious Padma Shri in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001.