NCPA To Present Special Archival Listening Session Celebrating Santoor Maestro Shivkumar Sharma
Joining him for the session is Takahiro Arai, a Japanese santoor player who spent nearly eighteen years in Mumbai under Sharma’s guidance
Events
The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) is set to present a special archival listening session honouring the life and musical legacy of legendary santoor maestro Shivkumar Sharma as part of its ongoing Citi Nad Ninad: From Our Archives series.
The session will be guided by Sharma’s senior disciples and practising instrumentalists, Dilip Kale and Takahiro Arai, who will share reflections, insights and commentary alongside rare audio and video excerpts from the maestro’s recordings at the NCPA between 1971 and 2019.
Widely regarded as the artist who transformed the santoor from a Kashmiri folk instrument into a globally recognised instrument of Indian classical music, Shivkumar Sharma played a pioneering role in shaping the instrument’s identity on the classical stage.
Through decades of innovation and performance, he helped establish the santoor, an instrument with over ninety strings, alongside other major Indian classical string instruments.
The upcoming session aims to offer audiences a deeper understanding of Sharma’s artistry, musical thought and enduring contribution to Hindustani classical music through carefully curated archival material from the NCPA’s extensive collection.
Dilip Kale, one of Sharma’s senior disciples, has been performing Indian classical and light classical music for more than three decades at major festivals in India and internationally, including the Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Samaroha, Pune Festival, Sankatmochan Music Festival and Gunidas Sangeet Sammelan.
Over the years, he has frequently performed alongside his guru and has also curated live talks exploring Sharma’s musical journey and creative philosophy. Apart from classical music, Kale has contributed to film, television and theatre recordings and actively conducts lecture demonstrations for younger audiences.
Joining him for the session is Takahiro Arai, a Japanese santoor player who spent nearly eighteen years in Mumbai under Sharma’s guidance. Originally trained as a Western drummer with a background in jazz music, Arai discovered the santoor after attending a recital in Japan by Setsuo Miyashita, another disciple of Sharma.
Inspired by the instrument, he moved to India in 2007 and eventually became one of the few international disciples closely associated with Sharma’s concert performances across India and abroad.
Launched in 2008, Nad Ninad is one of the NCPA’s flagship archival initiatives focused on preserving and presenting India’s classical music heritage through curated listening sessions led by musicians, scholars and experts.
Supported by Citi, the series draws from the NCPA archives, which include more than 5,000 hours of recorded music and over 1,200 hours of rare film footage featuring legendary artistes such as Vilayat Khan, Begum Akhtar, M. S. Subbulakshmi, Kumar Gandharva, Nikhil Banerjee and Siddheshwari Devi.
The event is open to audiences aged six and above. Entry is free on a first-come, first-served basis, while late entry will not be permitted. The session is expected to run for approximately 90 minutes.