Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma, one of India’s most popular percussionists, credited for not just popularising percussion ensembles but making them ‘a dynamic assemblage of beats’, turns 50 this Sunday. Ask him how he feels about his students turning this golden event on March 29 to mark his achievements and he says “It’s embarrassing; after all, there are senior mridangists in the State who have offered yeoman service to the world of percussion.” Anoor Sharma, or Shivu as he is affectionately referred to in the music circles, is the son of Karnataka’s legendary violinist Anoor Ramakrishna and has trained more than 300 students over three decades! “My father took over the Ayyanar College of Music from violin Chowdiah and passed on the stylised vocalised format of R.R. Keshavamurthy to music students at the Bangalore University for nearly 20 years. I carry the responsibility of taking his name across!” he says.
Sharma has always been an-all-rounder. From a toddler who tapped on every table and vessel at home to feel every beat, from developing a voice and ear for classical music, from building and developing deft hands for percussive arts and the stringed veena, to garnering the best of percussionists for his innovative and ingenious troupe ensembles in ‘Laya Lavanya’ and ‘Laya Lahiiri’ these 50 years have seen the percussionist have a widened vision.
One daring attempt in laya was Anoor Sharma’s laya vinyasa from household utensils as steel, copper and bronze vessels, plates, tumblers, spoons, ladles, scissors, winnow, traditional coconut scrapers, metal chairs, buckets, and bottles filled with mustard! “The diverse tones inherent in each bring harmony when the measure of strike on each is a well-practiced one,” says the maestro of sounds.
The maestro will be felicitated at Mangala Mantapa, NMKRV College, Jayanagar. The celebrations will be held from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
