Son and disciple of sitar maestro Kartick Kumar, Niladri Kumar started learning the sitar at the tender age of four and had his first public performance at the age of six. He belongs to a lineage of five generations of sitar players and has incorporated artistic aspects and nuances of diverse styles.
In addition to his classical concerts, Niladri Kumar is a frequent performer for intercultural collaborative music concerts.
In March 2007, Niladri won the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi’s “Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar” for Instrumental Hindustani Music. “The Sanskriti Award”, “The Jadubhatta Puraskar” and “The MTV IMMIES for the Best Classical/Fusion Instrumental Album” for his album ‘IF’, are some of the other awards he has won besides having valued titles like “Shanmukha Shree” & “Surmani” to his credit.
His recitals have received worldwide recognition and he has been featured on many albums.