Pandit Shankar Ghosh was born in 1935 and died on January 22, 2016.

He was a noted Indian tabla player from the Farukhabad gharana of Hindustani classical music.

He is also an occasional Hindustani classical singer where he follows the Patiala gharana.

Shankar Ghosh was awarded the 1999-2000 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Tabla, the highest Indian recognition given to talented artists, by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.

Shankar Ghosh started his education training in 1953 under Pandit Gyan Prakash Ghosh of Calcutta (now Kolkata), who pioneered the concept of tabla ensembles, which employed numerous tabla players playing the same pieces; a tradition later taken forward by Shankar himself.

Shankar Ghosh other gurus were Pt. Gyan Prakash Ghosh, Ustad Feroz Khan, Pandit Anath Nath Bose and Pandit Sudarshan Adhikari.

Shankar Ghosh started touring the US in 1960s with sarod maestro, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and won rave reviews, and over the years he toured with Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, Sharan Rani, Pandit V. G. Jog.

In India Shankar Ghosh has played with vocalists such as Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Pandit Omkarnath Thakur, Pandit Vinayakrao Patwardhan, Girija Devi and Smt. Akhtari Bai.

During his stay abroad Shankar Ghosh also worked with artists like Greg Ellis, Pete Lockett and John Bergamo.

Shankar Ghosh has received awards like ITC Sangeet Research Academy award and the Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan award. Teaching tabla over three decades, presently he teaches in institutions at Kolkata, Paris and Bonn.

Shankar Ghosh was married to Hindustani classical vocalist of Patiala gharana, Sanjukta Ghosh, and is the father of the tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh, whom he has also trained in tabla, and who went on to perform with musical legends like Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar.

Shankar Ghosh passed away at 81 yrs old.