Indian musician and composer Shivkumar Sharma, who elevated the 100-stringed hammered dulcimer to classical concert stages around the world, died Tuesday in Mumbai at age 84. He created a famously dreamy, almost singing tone for his santoor — a feat for an instrument that is played by hitting the many strings with two mallets.
His death was first reported across Indian media, with family saying that he died at home of a heart attack. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also gave public tribute: using honorifics for the late musician, Modi wrote: "Our cultural world is poorer with the demise of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma Ji."
