Further appearances include Manchester Camerata, Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, North Czech Philharmonic, Jena Philharmonie, Staatsphilharmonie Braunschweig, Orquesta Sinfónica de Trujillo, Vaasa City Orchestra and Jyväskylä Sinfonia. As assistant conductor he has worked closely with a number of renowned conductors including Sir Andrew Davis, Vasily Petrenko, Eckehard Stier and Juanjo Mena and collaborated with the BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Auckland Philharmonia orchestras.

After graduating in conducting from the prestigious Weimar Conservatoire in Germany under the tutelage of Professor Gunter Kahlert, Harish Shankar also received mentorship from Sir Mark Elder, Clark Rundell and Mark Heron with masterclasses from Paavo Järvi, Nicolás Pasquet, Leonid Grin and Mark Stringer.

As a strong believer in music education, his early studies with Maestro Eiji Oue subsequently led to an invitation to lead the orchestra of the award-winning El Sistema project in Peru. During his tenure with El Sistema, he conducted a number of regular and cross-over projects with the aim to engage a growing classical music scene and to bring together children from all walks of life through music.

In his free time Harish Shankar serves as an emergency pedagogue with the Friends of Waldorf Education, using music to help children in areas of conflict cope with trauma.