World famous santoor player, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, is to play in Yorkshire for the first time next week. The santoor belongs to the hammer dulcimer family, one of the most popular instruments. Pandit Shivkumar is credited with advocating and ensuring the santoor is an accepted popular instrument in the world of Indian Classical Music across the globe.
Hosted by charity, South Asian Arts-uk (SAA-uk), Pandit ji will perform at The Venue, Leeds College of Music on Saturday 12th September.
Keranjeet Kaur Virdee, CEO, SAA-uk, explains; “It’s a great honour to welcome Pandit ji to Leeds for his debut performance. At aged 74 and living in India, there’s no guarantee he’ll play here again so we really want to celebrate his arrival.
Leeds is currently bidding to be the Capital of Culture in 2023, we are fully behind this ambitious bid and determined to help our city achieve this precious title. We’re committed to inviting as many critically acclaimed worldwide international artists to the region as possible. Pandit ji is an exceptional addition to our already outstanding portfolio of cultural and artistic events this year. He has been performing now for more than half a century and has created millions of new listeners and ardent fans of Indian classical music. We’re delighted he’s in the North for this rare performance, before he goes on to play as a headline act at the renowned London Dabar festival, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.”
Supported by the distinct sound of the tabla, combined with the scintillating sound of the santoor, the evening on the 12th promises to captivate the audience and offer a mesmerising experience for dedicated fans and aficionados’ of Classical art and fine music, but also for those new to the art-form, who want to come along and experience a world renowned artist in action, describes as the Samrat (King) of Santoor, India Times.
The concert will take place at 7.30pm at Leeds College of Music.
Tickets are available by calling 0113 244 5523 or can be bought on the door on the 12th September.
