Search - Rahul Sharma :: Music of the Himalayas

Rahul Kumar is the son of Shivkumar Sharma (of Call of the Valley fame) and is a world-renowned poet of the santoor in his own right. In fact, the two masters often play together. Until recently, the santoor, a trapezoid-shaped hammered zither, with its hundred-plus strings and curved wooden mallets, was considered appropriate only for Kashmiri folk tunes. But over the past half-century (a blink of an eye along India's ancient timeline), its rippling, metallic glissandos and arpeggios have become accepted even in rarified Indian music circles. Like his father, the younger virtuoso has solved the problem of how to create rounded, soothing tones from an essentially staccato medium. Heard live before a nearly silent audience, Rahul's deceptively delicate touch strikes fire while his fervent improvisations breathe deep and blossom. The listener becomes blissfully passive, like a traveler so enchanted by the journey that she no longer cares about reaching her destination. --Christina Roden