Harish Shankar

As Junior Fellow of Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, he received valuable mentorship from Sir Mark Elder. Masterclasses with Paavo Järvi, Nicolás Pasquet and Mark Stringer round off his studies.

He has assisted a number of renowned conductors including Sir Andrew Davis, Vasily Petrenko, Eckehard Stier and Juanjo Mena. Early studies with Eiji Oue 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.

A pianist by training, Harish Shankar took piano lessons from the age of six with Penny Kam and Loo Bang Hean before being accepted into the class of noted pianist Professor Konstanze Eickhorst at the Conservatoire of Lübeck.

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.