JAMMU: Former Member Parliament, Dr Karan Singh condoled the demise of Indian music composer and Santoor player Pandit Shivkumar Sharma.
In a statement issued here today, the former Member Parliament said “With the passing of Shri Shivkumar Sharma we have lost one of the major musical figures of our times. He was not only a great performer but he gave new instrument to classical Hindustani music – the Santoor. This is an old Kashmiri instrument but Shivkumar’s genius lay in improving and expanding it so as to make it fit for use in our classical music.”
“On a personal note, Shivkumar was the son of my music teacher in Jammu Pt. Uma Dutt Sharma who was also a Pujari in one of our temples. He used to accompany his father to my residence when he was a boy, and to begin with he became an extremely accomplished Tabla Player. It was to play the Tabla that I had first sent him to Mumbai to participate in the annual music festival there. Later he switched to Santoor and the rest, as they say, is history. I am glad that his son Rahul and other Santoor players are carrying on with the tradition introduced by Shivkumar. His duets with Ustad Zakir Hussain, who was also from Jammu, were a joy,” Dr Karan Singh said.
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