Sharat Chandra Srivastava is a leading North Indian classical violinist of the Senia Gharana. His nascent talent was nurtured through rigorous taleem given by his guru and grandfather, Pt Joi Srivastava. His performances bring out a unique blend of virtuosity, sweetness and an understanding of ‘Dhrupad-ang’. He has been playing the violin since the age of 7, and has been actively performing for over three decades.
Sharat has shared the stage with Indian classical maestros like Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pt.Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Pt. Birju Maharaj. He collaborates with performers from other genres like rock, fusion and jazz as well, in his distinctive style. In 1998, he got the opportunity to share the stage with Gordon Matthew Th omas Sumner a.k.a. Sting, in an all-acoustic set at the Channel [V] awards held at New Delhi. Since 2012 he has performed multiple times with the Trondheim Solistene, a string ensemble from Norway.
Sharat has performed in music festivals all over the world like the New Zealand Arts Festival in 2004, The Great Arc Festival and the Little Chilli Festival (London), Singapore Arts Festival, Druga Godba Festival (Slovenia), Canada National Day (Toronto), Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Dubai Jazz Festival, Khajuraho Millennium Festival (India) and Saptak Sankalp Saptah (India). Most recently he gave a critically acclaimed performance at the Tansen Sangeet Samaroh 2016 in Gwalior (India).
Sharat is also a well-known composer and teacher. He has taught Indian classical violin at the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, New Delhi from 1999 to 2007. He has conducted master classes at the University of Edinburgh, Royal Scotland Academy of Music and Drama, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. Additionally, he has conducted workshops in Winterthur University, Switzerland and Casa de la India, Valladolid, Spain. He was the music composer and conductor for UNDP’s ‘Stand Up, Make Noise’ programme on 18 September 2010 featuring a 100-piece Indian instrumental orchestra at Purana Quila, New Delhi. He recently composed the music for and conducted the finale of the cultural programme – The India Africa Summit 2015 held on 29th October 2015 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
In Association with SAMA Arts Network