ABHAY RUSTUM SOPORI

‘Santoor Player and Music Composer’

Born at Srinagar, in a musical environment and spiritual surroundings, Abhay Rustum Sopori, the torch bearer of the ‘exclusive traditional Santoor family’ of the country, is the son of the Legendary Santoor Virtuoso and Music Composer Pandit Bhajan Sopori.

Abhay has been learning instrumental and vocal music both from his Grandfather Pandit Shamboo Nath Sopori (the father of Indian Classical Music in the Valley) and his illustrious father. Abhay has a profound sense of music that he has inherited from his traditional Sufiana Gharana, under the Guru-Shishy Parampara, with its roots of Santoor playing of more than 150 years. He has also learned Western Classical Music providing him a base for systematic compositional work. He has been the youngest classical musician to compose and conduct orchestras and Folk ensembles.

Abhay has made some innovations in his Santoor by introducing the ‘Open String concept’ to boost the lower octave of the Santoor and further developing the ‘Been Ang’ on Santoor.

Abhay has been awarded the prestigious ‘Kalawant Samman - 2004’ for his excellence in music as a Santoor player and a Music Composer. He has also been honoured by various organizations in India and abroad.

Abhay has invented, designed and introduced a new ‘30 stringed’ instrument in the world of music and named it ‘Sur Santoor’.

A remarkable and unique quality of his presentation is that he sings the composition along with its instrumental rendering. Performing along with the accompaniment of Pakhawaj is also a special characteristic of his Baaj. Some of the great asserts of his playing are Lightning Tempo, clarity of notes, Melodious Sequence of Notes, and his dedication and zeal for perfection in adapting the Style created by Pt. Bhajan Sopori known as ‘Sopori Baaj’. These include variety of ‘Taan patterns’, ‘Bol Patterns’, ‘Chand patterns’, ‘Meend’, ‘Gamak’, ‘Glides’, etc. which are the characteristics of the Sopori Baaj. Abhay’s performances demonstrate a keen sense of Gayaki (Vocal) and Tantrakari (Instrumental) techniques, which is the essence of his Baaj (style).

Abhay has also played for the Signature Tune of the ‘Aaj Tak’ News Channel of India.


Abhay’s debut as a Santoor player in 1997 in a prestigious concert in Delhi was very well received by the music lovers. Since then he has been performing on the national and international platforms. He has performed in countries like USA, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, etc.

His concerts have brought him a lot of appreciation by the music connoisseurs and the critics in India and abroad which include National and International Festivals.

His musical albums have received wide range acclamation by all. These include classical as well as compositional works like ‘New Strings’ released in USA, ‘Voice of Strings’ released in Jammu by the Hon’ble Governor of J&K, Lt. Gen S.K.Sinha, ‘Kabir Bani’, ‘Meera Kahaye’ etc. as an established composer he has composed music for various serials and documentaries like ‘Tabla Ka Itihaas’, ‘Guldasta’, ‘Roshni’, ‘Do Shaheron Ke Kahani’.

Abhay was given the first prize in the State Music Competition in Srinagar when he was just 10. He also sang as a playback singer in the ‘National Award’ winning Kashmiri feature film ‘Bub’ apart from other Documentaries, Tele-films, Serials, etc.

Abhay is a double graduate in ‘Management’ and ‘Computer Applications’ besides being a National Level Hockey Player.


Website: [www.santoor.org[http://www.santoor.org]