Considered a living legend, a pioneer, and a musical genius, L. Shankar’s prolific career as a touring violinist, vocalist, and composer has redefined what Indian classical music can sound like on a global stage. Born in Madras into a family of musicians—his father V. Lakshminarayana was a celebrated Carnatic vocalist and violinist—Shankar began vocal training at age two. After earning a doctorate in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University, L. Shankar invented the double violin. He debuted the instrument —a stereophonic double-necked electric violin, in 1981 on Phil Collins’ solo album (Face Value) and on his own album (Who’s to Know). Frank Zappa, who hired him for his band, called Shankar "the best violinist on the planet"
L. Shankar’s devotion to making groundbreaking music continues with the 2024 releases of Full Moon and Over the Stars, followed by the star-studded pop-rock album Answers in 2025.
For this rare Wisconsin performance Shankar will be accompanied by an all star duo of percussion including fellow Shakti family member Selvaganesh Vinayakram, a two-time GRAMMY Award winning member of Shakti. On tabla is Amit Kavthekar, regarded as one of the top-ranking tabla players of his generation, regularly playing with master musicians of Indian music such as Amjad Ali Khan to jazz musicians such as Al Di Meola.