Sydney Festival Rishab Rikhiram Sharma: Sitar For Mental Health

  • Contemporary Music
  • Concert Hall
  • Run time: 120 minutes, including a 15 minute interval Subject to change
  • Seating map

Australian Premiere

The sitar sensation has the world at his fingertips.

Born into Delhi's famed Rikhi Ram family of luthiers, Rishab Rikhiram Sharma picked up the
sitar at ten, earned a place as the youngest disciple of the legendary Pandit Ravi Shankar
at just eleven and has since become one of his generation's most distinctive talents with
millions of adoring fans. The first musician to be appointed a UN Advocate for Mental
Health, he brings his global Sitar For Mental Health tour to Sydney Festival coming off sold out
runs in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the United
Kingdom.

Rooted in the ancient tradition of Raag Chikitsa, Sharma’s performances are far from
conventional concerts: this live fusion of music and ancient practice creates immersive
experiences where melody and meditation become one, a collective and joyous deep
breath. This is the sitar as you've never heard it before, dynamic and fun; Sharma performs
everything from traditional ragas to his own singular spin on Western pop cultural
touchstones like the Game of Thrones and Harry Potter themes.

Indian classical mastery and a pop sensibility meet a mission to bring healing through music.
With his distinctive style and charm, not to mention his souped-up electric sitar with 640
LED bulbs that looks, in his words, “like a lightsaber”, Sharma lights up the stage and the
heart in more ways than one.

Presented by Sydney Festival

Event details

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Address

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Getting to the venue

The Opera House is a 7-10 minute walk from Circular Quay, and is easily accessible by car, train, ferry, lightrail, bus, bike and on foot.

Location and access

Concert Hall

The Concert Hall is located beneath the largest of Sydney Opera House’s roof sails, filling the upper levels of the west side of the building. Best accessed through the covered concourse. 

All Sydney Opera House foyers are accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators).

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