Dr Lovely Sharma

Dr Lovely Sharma plays sitar and is a Professor at Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Uttar Pradesh. She is the first woman sitarist to receive a D.Litt. for her research in music.

She began studying sitar at 15 under Mrs Veena Chandra, then trained with Shri Kalyan Lahari (disciple of Manilal Nag, Kolkata), Shri K.C. Lahiri of Agra, Gulam Husain Khan of Ahmedabad, N.R. Rao of Bangalore, and Pt. Brij Bhushan Lal Kabra of Jodhpur. Her debut concert was in 1979 at Maharaja Aggrasen Kanya Vidhyalaya, Sadabad, Agra. She has since performed at over 40 national and international concerts across India, the United States, Europe, and Asia.

A Gold Medallist in M.A. (Music) from Agra University, she holds a PhD from Baroda University (1986) and a D.Litt. in Music from the same institution. She served as Vice-Chancellor of Raja Mansingh Tomar Music & Arts University, Gwalior. She has published nine books and 36 research papers, and is a Kala Bhushan awardee, empanelled with All India Radio, Delhi, and ICCR.