Spirit of India

Presented by Nataraj Cultural Centre

The world-renowned santoor virtuoso Shivkumar Sharma, at the height of his creative powers, will present a new program of selected ragas on his fourth Australian visit.

His eminence among Indian classical musicians rests on his achievement in bringing the santoor, a folk instrument from Kashmir used to accompany sufi music, to the world concert stage. Shivkumar’s extensive repertoire includes ragas that deal with divine and secular love in its various manifestations - unrequited as well as happy.

The santoor is played with a pair of wooden strikers which produce delicate yet lively sounds reminiscent of the piano and the harp. Shivkumar can make the santoor sound hauntingly beautiful – “something like a whisper and the cascade of a waterfall”.

Shivkumar is accompanied on the tabla by Yogesh Samsi, a master tabla player, second in eminence only to Zakir Hussain; on the tanpura he is accompanied by his student Takahiro Arai.

“He drew from the santoor sweet and delicate shadings - difficult to achieve on the piano.” (Palo Alto Times)

“He coaxed from the santoor the most beguiling melodies.” (The West Australian)

For more information visit www.nataraj.org.au and www.santoor.com