Born in a family of musicians of Banaras gharana in which Shehnai & flute are played for the last 450 years and over, Sanjeev & Ashwani manifested their strong affinity towards music at the age of seven and five. Their father Pt. Daya Shankar, himself an internationally acclaimed Shehnai player boosted his sons’ blooming talent to flourish with his personal inspiration and guidance. Sanjeev & Ashwani also had the privilege to learn Shehnai from their grandfather, the legendary Shehnai player Pt. Anant Lal

After formal training in pursuit of proficiency of the highest order in Raga, Taal and Laya, both were awarded scholarship by the Govt. of India, Department of Culture, for their outstanding talent in the field of music. At present Sanjeev & Ashwani have been consolidating their knowledge under the able guidance of the legendary sitar maestro Pt. Ravi Shankar.

Ashwani is a Graduate in Political Science, and Sanjeev who is a Post graduate in Hindustani Classical Vocal music is presently doing research work for his M.Phil degree. Sanjeev has had the privilege to tour the U.S.A with Pandit Ravi Shankar for the Festival of India from 2005. In the year 2003, Sanjeev gave part of the background score and also played Shehnai in the film “Letters from Rishikesh” which was produced for the National Television of Israel. Sanjeev has recently arranged music in an album of Jain Devotional songs which was released by the honorable Swami Vidyanandji  in the month of April 2006.

The  Shankar brothers have to their credit a wide spectrum of performances and have mesmerized the audiences at various music festivals like Sri Baba Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, Magh Mahotsav, Sangeet Natak Akademi Music Festival , and also in places like Delhi, Calcutta, Bangalore, Allahabad, Lucknow, Poona, Gangtok, Mumbai, Chennai, Ayodhya in India , and have represented India on many international platforms in places like France, Spain, Ireland, England, Scotland, Hungary, Slovakia, Japan, Bangladesh, USA and many more to name.

In all their performances the brother duo touched the hearts of the listeners worldwide and were critically acclaimed and praised by both, the exponents and the critics of the music world.

REFERENCES

Festival Evora Classica (PT), Festival les Orientales - Saint Florent le Veil (FR), Musée Guimet - Paris (FR), Cité de la Musique - Paris (FR)