Selina Sharma


Selina Sharma is an Italian-born Indian musicologist and vocalist. Her theoretical work concentrates on South Asia, in particular on the devotional music tradition of the Vraja region, the Bauls of Bengal as well as on the philosophical and spiritual aspects of music. Currently she is the Vice-Secretary and Academic Director of Vraja Kala Sanskriti Sansthana at Vrindaban.

Early life and career (1994-2006)

Born as Selina Thielemann into a family of musicians and scholars, Selina Sharma was introduced to Indian culture and philosophy as a young child, inspired especially by her violinist father Peter Thielemann and her mother Serena Mitzscherling, a renowned concert pianist. Selina received training in violin from her father. After completing her schooling and musical education in Germany, she pursued her M.Mus. in ethnomusicology from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where she also studied mediaeval Hindi literature, Sanskrit and South Asian politics. She completed her M.Phil. in musicology from the University of Cambridge, and obtained her Ph.D. from Banaras Hindu University. Her doctoral thesis on "Musical traditions of Vaishnava temples in Vraja" was supervised by renowned musicologist Professor Prem Lata Sharma, who essentially shaped Selina's views. The other personality to significantly influence Selina's academic outlook was the German scholar Professor Josef Kuckertz, whose writings she compiled after his death and published them under the title Essays in Indian music in 1999.
In 1994, Selina came first to India to pursue fieldwork on the temple music traditions of the Vraja region as part of her M.Phil. thesis at the University of Cambridge. Here, she started her training as a dhrupad vocalist with Pandit Vidur Mallik at Vrindaban. Seeing the declining state of many forms of traditional music and art in the Vraja area, she returned to Vrindaban upon completion of her studies at Cambridge University in the summer of 1994, and from then onwards dedicated her work to the research and documentation of the musical traditions of Vraja and other areas in India. In the course of this work, her intent of establishing an academic institution for the research, documentation and dissemination of Vraja art took firm roots, a goal which materialized in 2004 when was established by a group of dedicated artists and scholars including Selina Sharma and her husband Shashank Goswami.
Between 1996 and 2005, Selina Sharma produced the major body of her publications including eleven books on various subjects of Indian music and philosophy, as well as a large number of articles. Together with the famous folk singer Purna Das Baul, she authored the first extensive written account on the philosophy of the Bauls to be published in English language.

Dissemination of Vraja art and culture (2006-present)

Since 2006, Selina Sharma concentrated her activities on the dissemination of the rare and endangered forms of folk and traditional art of Vraja. Together with her husband, Sanjhi artist Shashank Goswami, she conducts regular workshops and lectures on Indian music and art, Indian stage plays on epic themes enacted by school children, as well as exhibitions of miniature paintings by young artists from Vraja in India and abroad. She also performs as a dhrupad singer in India and abroad.

Personal life

Selina Sharma is married to hereditary priest and Sanjhi artist Shashank Goswami since 2006. They have two sons Shri Ram Goswami and Shri Lakshman Goswami. Selina Sharma speaks many languages, including Hindi, Sanskrit, Bengali, English, Italian and German.

Discography