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