Shubhendra Shankar (30 March 1942 – 15 September 1992), also known as Shubho Shankar, was an Indian graphic artist, musician and composer. He was the only son of musicians Annapurna Devi and

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...

Early life

Shubhendra Shankar was the son of the

surbahar ''Surbahar'' (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, i ...

virtuoso and teacher Annapurna Devi and sitar maestro

. Hailing from a gifted Hindustani classical music background, his grandfather was the legendary Ustad

Allauddin Khan Ustad Allauddin Khan (8 October 1862 – 6 September 1972), was a Bengalis, Bengali sarod player and multi-instrumentalist, composer and one of the most notable music teachers of the 20th century in Indian classical music. For a generation many ...

, the founder of the

Maihar Gharana The Maihar Gharana or Maihar-Senia Gharana is a gharana or school of classical music, a style of Indian classical music originating in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The school was formed by Allaudin Khan in the princely state ...

. He was also the nephew of sarod maestro

Ali Akbar Khan Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was an Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, ...

, and the cousin of sarodists Ashish Khan, Dhyanesh Khan, Alam Khan, and Manik Khan. Through his father's side, he was the older half-brother of

Norah Jones Norah Jones ( ; born Geethali Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has won several awards for her music and, , has sold more than 53 million records worldwide. '' Billboard'' named her the top jazz artist of ...

and

Anoushka Shankar Anoushka Hemangini Shankar (born 9 June 1981) is a British-American sitar player and musician of Indian descent, as well as occasional writer. She performs across multiple genres and styles—Indian classical, classical and contemporary, acoust ...

. He learned the

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

initially from his father, Ravi Shankar. His tutorship was handed over to his mother Annapurna Devi, when Ravi Shankar could not make time due to his hectic work schedule at the All India Radio and concert tours across India. While living in his father's home in Hollywood, he painted and drew, and earned a degree in fine arts from the

Otis Art Institute Otis College of Art and Design is a Private university, private Art school, art and design school in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is l ...

of the

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

in Los Angeles. In 1971, within two years of his arrival in the US, Shubho Shankar performed in a concert for the first time, playing with his father at New York's

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

. The performance was titled "Fathers and Sons" and included tabla players

Alla Rakha Alla Rakha Qureshi (29 April 1919 – 3 February 2000) was an Indian tabla player who specialised in Hindustani classical music. Widely revered as one of history's most iconic players of the tabla, he was a frequent accompanist of sitar player ...

and his son Zakir Hussain.

Career

Shubho Shankar performed frequently on concert tours, composed music for films and recorded several albums. He performed with his father, appearing throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, including performances at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

After marrying, he gradually dropped out of the music scene and stopped playing the sitar for almost eight years. At the age of 40, he took his father's advice to return to his music full-time. He gave lessons in sitar playing, singing and flute in Orange County,

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and Los Angeles. In 1989–1990, Shankar went on a concert tour of England, Europe and India. On this trip, which also was to be his last visit to India, he met his mother after a gap of 20 years during which the two had no communication. He resumed learning the sitar under his mother. Shankar played together with his father at the Sawai Gandharva Festival in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

in 1990, where some music critics commented that he was out of tune. Shankar was dejected, and refused to stay in India to complete his sitar education, saying it was "too late now". He returned to the US, and in his last few months cut himself off from everyone.

Personal life

At a concert he gave at

Whittier College Whittier College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic-serving institution, Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of spring 2024, had 815 ...

, Shubho met Linda, from North Carolina, soon to be his wife. They had two children, son Somnath and daughter Kaveri. Gradually he lost interest in playing the sitar. He worked as a clerk in a liquor store, painted pictures, and drew illustrations for telephone directories, in order to support his wife and two children.

Death

Shankar died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at Los Alamitos Medical Center following an illness of several months at his home in Garden Grove. He was cremated and his remains dispersed in the ocean off

Marina del Rey Marina del Rey ( Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The eponymous harbor is a major boating and water recreation destination of the Greater Los Angeles ar ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shankar, Shubhendra Sitar players Otis College of Art and Design alumni People from Garden Grove, California 1942 births 1992 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in California 20th-century Indian musicians