Shilpa Shanker Narain

Shilpa Shanker Narain was born and brought up in Old Delhi, India, in a joint family steeped in music and arts, to a Mathur father who played the Sarod, and a Bengali mother, who grew up entrenched in Rabindra Sangeet and theatre. While spending more than 15 years of her childhood since the age of 6, learning and performing the classical dance form ‘odissi’ under the tutelage of her Late Guru Hare Krishna Behera, her father’s active presence in the classical music fraternity gave Shilpa an early exposure and opportunity to observe and spend time with musicians and artists of repute, which continued to inspire her. She went on to learn basics of Khayal with her father’s able guidance and encouragement, and immersed herself in the systematic training of Dhrupad beginning in 2010, under the tutelage of Padmashri awarded Dhrupad Maestros, Gundecha Brothers and their senior disciple Shri Sanjeev Jha. Currently she continues to deepen her knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of dagarvani dhrupad under the guidance of Dhrupad maestro Dr Suvratadev Sharmana Vandopadhyay. Shilpa has a Masters Degree in Philosophy and over a decade of experience working as a visual artist. She is now dedicated to serving Dhrupad full time, actively performing, researching and providing fresh insights to the audiences. She currently resides in Manila, Philippines with her husband and two sons.