About Vidwan S.Shankar

Born in 1950, Vidwan S.Shankar, a popular karnatic vocalist, is the disciple of his mother Smt.Rajamma Sastry and also Smt.Nagarathna Bai & Smt Vallabham Kalyana Sundaram. A performer for more than four decades, he is 'a top' grade artist of A.I.R & Doordarshan. He participated in the national programme of music on A.I.R. and D.D. In 1998 & 2007 - 2015. He also participated in the Radio Sangeetha Sammelan in 1992 and 2004 at Mumbai and in 2011 at Kolkata.

He won the first prize in A.I.R. competition in 1973, Best Musician Award by the Bangalore Gayana Samaj & the best young musician award by The Music Academy, Chennai. He has performed all over the country and at many places in the U.S. He has conducted music workshops at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London & has performed at the venue too. He has performed jugal bandhi concerts with Hindustani vocalists. He is endowed with a sturdy voice & his rendering of raga is mellifluous & enthralling. His repertoire consists of the compositions of the trinity, Swathi Thirunal, Patnam Subrahmanya iyer, Jayachamarajendra wodeyer, Mysore vasudevachar, Mayuram Vishwanatha Sastry, Papanasam sivan, D.V.Gundappa, Padmacharan & Haridasas. His rendering of slokas is unique.

Besides composing a few kritis and thillanas, he has written articles on music and musicians in several dailies and souvenirs. He has also founded a Musical forum "Shankarabharanam Kalamandira" and has organized an year-long birth centenary celebration of his guru Smt. Vallabham Kalyanasundaram in the year 2012. He has a number of cassettes / CDs to his credit. He has directed music for musical features, documentaries & dramas on A.I.R & D.D. He has so far published three books, "Sadashiva Brahmendra jeevana mattu kruthigalu", "Vaasudeva Keerthana Manjari" and "Sangraha kruthi maala" containing rare compositions of old and contemporary compositions. He has also presented many musical features on life and compositions of Mysore Vasudeva Acharya, Sri Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar and others with earnest contributions from his disciples.