A person of profound talent, abundant perception, exciting possibilities, Dr.Harvinder Kumar Sharma born on May 29, 1957 is an exceptionally gifted Sitarist. He showed a keen interest in Sitar at a tender age of five and gave his maiden public performance when he was just nine.
A disciple of Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan of Imdadkhani Gharana, Harvinder was initially groomed by his father Sh. Meghraj Sharma and thereafter was trained under illustrious guides, late Prof. Jitender Kumar and Dr. R.D. Verma.
Harvinder has distinct style of elaborating Raga through Khayal ang on sitar, which is the true essence of Imdadkhani Gharana. Upholding the traditional glory of this Gharana,he is also open to innovative ideas such as fusion or jugalbandi of classical and popular music. His experimentation with sitar on folk music and various forms of light music constantly enrich and upgrade his style.
In recognition of his meritorious achievements and outstanding commitment to music, he has been bestowed with innumerable awards and honours by prestigious organisations and the State Government of Haryana such as :
- “Surmani Award” by Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai in 1987.
- The State Government of Haryana applauded his contribution towards music on 56thRepublic Day
- A rare honour –“ Pandit Lakhmi Chand State award” for contribution in music was conferred upon him by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Haryana in March, 2012.
- An esteemed “Karam Yogi” award which is the highest civilian award in the field of music was also conferred upon him by the Haryana Institute of Fine Arts in July,2012.
- Harvinder was honoured with a “Prashashti Patra” for his incessant contribution to the field of music on the occasion of 65th Republic day (2012)
- Shivalik Gaurav 2014 , awarded by Shivalik Vikas Manch for the contribution toward music .
- Kala Vibhuti Samman 2014 was awarded by Sanskar Bharti in Nov 2014.
- Life Time Achievment Award by Society for Reasearch in Education and Information Technologies(SREIT), Shimla and Pratibha Sapandan ,Shimla in May 2015 .
- Sur-Sadhak Samman awarded by Kurukshetra University And Sur Tarang in Feb 2016 .
- Bhai Mardana Sangeet award by the Deptt of Gurmat Sangeet, Panjabi university, patiala in March,2016 .
- Award Of Honour by Saaz Institute of Music,Canada in 2016.
- Sangeet Rattan Award on the occasion of International Elder's Day by SCWA(Regd) Chandigarh.
- Inspiring Artist Award presented on September 29 th, 2018. by Mushtari Begum Festival, Vancouver ( Canada).
- ICMF 2018 Award by Sarb Akal Music Society Of Calgary ( Canada).
- Award of Honour 2018 by the MP on behalf of the Constituents of Surrey Newton British Columbia Canada.
- Kala Gaurav Samman 2019 awarded by Sanskar Bharti on February 17th, 2019.
- NAAD YOGI Samman by Naad Foundation, Surrey BC, Canada in August 3, 2019
- TANTRA SHIROMANI Samman 2019, awarded by Maharashtra Samiti, Jhansi on 26.10.2019
- “Award of Recognition“ ICMF 2022 by Sarb Akal Society of Music, Calgary (Canada)
- “Sangeet Mahamani award” August 2023, by Yashika Education Society , Delhi
- “ Kala Shiromani Award” August 2023, by Great Sports Cultural Club, India
His exclusive experimentation with regard to Jugal bandi of Sitar with other instruments like Violin,Jaltarang,Sarod and Santoor are indicative of his musical acumen and innovative skills. He is the “Top” grade artist of All India Radio and has been performing on AIR and Television since 1980. He has participated a number of times in the prestigious Akashvani Sangeet Sammelans and national programmes of All India Radio. A number of his Cassettes and CDs have been released by the various music companies. He has held concerts and musical performances in major cities of India and a few countries abroad like various parts of Canada, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. He has also participated in the major concerts held in Mumbai, Jaipur, Pune, Hyderabad, Indore, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Delhi and Shimla, Allahabad etc. Apart from his performances, Harvinder has whole heartedly dedicated himself to propagate the rich heritage of Indian Classical Music to the masses through teaching and delivering numerous lectures and demonstrations at the National level seminars in various colleges and universities in India and abroad.
He was selected by Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi as a lecturer cum performer and deputed to Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Centre, Embassy of India, Moscow from March 1989 to September 1992. During this tenure, he taught and trained many Russian students in the field of Indian classical music. He performed in various parts of erstwhile USSR and neighbouring countries like Poland, Holland, Germany and France.
He obtained a master degree in Hindustani classical music (Sitar) from Panjab University, Chandigarh in the year 1978. In addition he also obtained master’s degree in Hindustani classical music ( Vocal) from Panjab University, Chandigarh in 1980 and Sangeet Praveen from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad, Sangeet Bhaskar (Gold Medallist) from Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh. He has been a research scholar for two years at Research Institute of Fine Arts, Tashkent (Uzbekistan). He did his Ph.D. in Music from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra. He has been teaching Music for more than 32 years in various government colleges of Haryana, Chandigarh and abroad. He has worked as joint Director in the department of Higher Education, Haryana, Panchkula and thereafter he joined as Principal in Government College Barwala (Panchkula) and then Govt College Kalka ,Govt College for girl Panchkula Sec 14 and lastly posted as principal at Govt College kalka. He retired as principal from Government Post Graduate College Kalka(Haryana).
