Shivkumar Sharma (1938-2022) *84

was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer he collaborated with Indian flutist Hariprasad Chaurasia under the collaborative name Shiv-Hari and composed music for many Indian films including Faasle (1985), Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991), and Darr (1993).

Sharma was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986, the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award in 1991, and the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award in 2001. Sharma was born on 13 January 1938, in Jammu, which was part of the Jammu and Kashmir princely state then. His father Uma Dutt Sharma was a vocalist and a Tabla player. His father started teaching him vocals and tabla, when he was just five. His father saw an opportunity to introduce him to the santoor, a Hammered dulcimer, which was a folk instrument that traced its origins to ancient Persia, but was played in Kashmir. He saw the styles that integrated sufi notes with traditional Kashmiri folk music and had his son play the instrument that was then new to Indian classical music. Sharma started learning santoor at the age of thirteen and gave his first public performance in Mumbai in 1955.