Shivkumar Sharma - Spirit of India

MUSIC: INDIA

“Shivkumar coaxed from the 100-string santoor the most beguiling melodies.”

The West Australian

Wellington audiences will experience the unique, mesmerising sounds of the santoor in Spirit of India, a concert featuring world-renowned santoor virtuoso Shivkumar Sharma.

Shivkumar has made it his life’s work to increase the awareness and status of this remarkable Kashmiri folk instrument. The 100-string santoor, a hammered dulcimer that is played with two walnut mallets, was originally used to accompany sacred chants. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Shivkumar has brought the instrument to the forefront of the Indian classical repertoire – and to the world.

Spirit of India will feature traditional ragas inspired by divine and secular love. Shivkumar will be accompanied on the tabla (drums) by Yogesh Samsi and Takahiro Arai on tanpura (long-necked lute).

Shivkumar has been a regular performer at Womadelaide and the Perth, Adelaide and Edinburgh Festivals since 1994. Released in 1967, his collaborative album, Call of the Valley, is one of the greatest hits of Indian classical music. He has made more than 100 recordings and is one of the major composers of music for Hindi films.

To make the santoor suitable for classical music, Shivkumar introduced a chromatic arrangement of notes and increased its range to three octaves. In an interview with The Age (Melbourne), he described the effect of santoor music as “something like a whisper and a cascade of a waterfall”.

Shivkumar Sharma: Spirit of India is at St Mary of the Angels on 14 March for the 2012 New Zealand International Arts Festival, Wellington, 24 February – 18 March. Tickets $48 available from Ticketek.

ENDS

With support from Asia New Zealand Foundation

By arrangement with the Nataraj Cultural Centre, Melbourne; assisted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations

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