Seattle Raga Institute and Poetry on Drums are pleased to present a series of Baithaks with Sarodiya Soumya Chakraverty from Washington, D.C.:
Based in Washington DC, Soumya is an established Sarod player who proudly carries the mantle of the Shahjahanpur Gharana, one of the oldest surviving lineages in instrumental music in northern India. He took up the Sarod at an early age under the guidance of Pt. Samarendra Nath Sikdar, a disciple of the legendary Sarod maestro, Pt. Radhika Mohan Moitra. The playing style of this gharana, has a unique blend of the Rababiya (derived from the Rabab) and Gayaki (derived from Hindustani vocal music) styles.
Soumya blossomed as a young artist on All India Radio Calcutta between 1990 and 1995. During a brief stint in Australia for a couple of years in the nineties while pursuing his MBA, he truly established himself as a mature instrumentalist, and also began to collaborate with other forms of world music. For nearly two decades, Soumya has been performing throughout the US, as well as touring Australia and Mexico. He has performed in major cities such as Cleveland, New York, Princeton, Seattle, and his home town of Washington DC, drawing packed audiences and earning rave reviews. In addition to pure Hindustani he continues to work with other music genres such Classical Carnatic (south Indian), flamenco, jazz and latin American percussion. His recent concert and interview at the Library of Congress has gone into the archives of this prestigious institution. Other performances of note, include Hindustani-Carnatic Jugalbandi at the Embassy of India in Washington DC, a collaboration with Ghazal in a program series titled From Ghalib to Gulzar, and a fusion project combining Rabindrasangeet (Tagore songs), Hindusthani classical music, classical Jazz, and West African percussion in a concert titled ‘Sea Thy Melody’. He recently returned to the US from a concert tour of India, Australia and New Zealand where he performed extensively throughout.
Despite having a regular career in banking and risk management, Soumya’s love and passion in music pushes him to continue to exploring new frontiers and challenges.
