Pandit Rahul Sharma

Rahul Sharma was born in Mumbai on 25 September 1972 into the Dogra family of the santoor player Shivkumar Sharma. He played harmonium as a child and began learning santoor from his father at thirteen; his father said in a 1999 interview that he had chosen Rahul as his shishya. He studied at Mithibai College in Mumbai, and from 1996 father and son appeared together on stage as equals, beginning with a concert in Norway.

At twenty-two he was signed by Peter Gabriel to perform at WOMAD, and he has since played the Darbar Festival and festivals across India and abroad. He made his debut as a film composer with Mujhse Dosti Karoge! in 2002, and in the same year released Confluence: Santoor & Piano with the French pianist Richard Clayderman, followed by Confluence II in 2008. His 2012 album Namaste, made with the American saxophonist Kenny G, produced a title single that reached number two on Billboard's world chart; Deep India with the French project Deep Forest followed in 2013. In 2021 he composed music and sang for the soundtrack of Kunal Kohli's series Ramayug.

He has more than sixty albums to his name, including work with Zakir Hussain, Shafaat Ahmed Khan, Bhavani Shankar, Bickram Ghosh and Aditya Kalyanpur. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2016. He is married to the designer and dancer Barkha Sharma.

He plays in the santoor idiom his father shaped, and has used the instrument's sustain and shimmer in settings far from the classical stage — piano, saxophone, electronica — while continuing to give full raga recitals.