B i o g r a p h y
Born in Kolkata (India) and raised in Ahmedabad, Gujarat (India), Somdatta started learning music from her father, Late Jati Shankar Chakraborty who inspired her to take up music. In addition to music at home, Somdatta also started learning Bharatnatyam, the Indian classical dance form at the age of 4 from Mrinalini and Mallika Sarabhai at the Darpana Academy, Ahmedabad and is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer herself.
Amongst Somdatta’s major influences were the renditions of the legendary Debabrata Biswas (paternal Grandfather) , one of the finest exponents of RabindraSangeet (Music of Rabindranath Tagore). His memories and expressions came alive through Somdatta’s father, whose music lessons on Tagore focused on rendering songs with expression and emotion. Somdatta’s passion for singing Tagore is her gateway to keeping her father’s teachings alive.
An accomplished musician, Somdatta has won several awards in Gujarat in the field of Bharatnatyam as well as music. She has performed in Doordarshan(Ahmedabad) and All India Radio Ahmedabad and has been a part of UNDP projects for women. Somdatta has also performed with International artists at the Natarani Theatre(Ahmedabad) giving her a wide exposure to other genres of music.
Somdatta released “Uttarshuri" in 2004 from Sound Wing studios (Kolkata) and "Reflections" in 2009 from Cozmik Harmony, both Rabindrasangeet albums. Somdatta’s most recent Tagore album “UTSARGA” is an attempt to blend an elegantly crafted musical arrangement by Prattyush Banerjee with her soulful rendition of selected compositions of this great Bard of Bengal. In addition to these albums, Somdatta has performed extensively in the United States in Boston, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She has performed at the North American Bengali conference held at the Madison Square Garden, New York (2005) and Long Beach, California (2003) as well.
Some of other Somdatta's notable performances include her performance in Dec 2015 at the Vancouver Tagore Society in Canada. She also produced 'Daivi' (Music of Tagore) which was showcased in New York City with Jazz pianist "Anil Veeraraj' at the first South Asian International Performing Arts Festival (SAIPAF) held in Aug 2015. In addition to the above, Somdatta also curated Sea Thy Melody, the musical work of Rabindranath Tagore at the Princeton University sponsored by the the University's Hindu Life Program. performing with Internationally acclaimed Jazz Pianist 'Eli Yamin' on May 2015.
Her international sojourn continued with very well received performances at the Nehru Center in London and the Tagore Center in Berlin in 2015 as part of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. As part of Somdatta's mission to spread the music of Tagore throughout the world in 2016, Somdatta performed during the month of May at Berlin and Budapest. Somdatta's next curation, the "Sea Thy Melody" Ensemble performed Tagore's music at the Arts Council in Princeton in 2016, was a very well received and praised event involving Jazz & Blues pianist Eli Yamin, Sarod maestro Soumya Chakraverty and percussionist Richard Robinson.
One of her recent Tagore curations was the very unique event titled Sangam in 2019 that brought together the music of Tagore and Gospel coupled with Urdu Poetry for a spiritual confluence of 3 styles performed to a packed audience at Princeton University's Taplin Hall. Also gracing this event with his heartfelt performance was Grammy nominated flutist Ron Korb. As a global musician, she has performed in Budapest, Berlin, The Hague, London , Kolkata and Ahmedabad carrying her productions worldwide. She has collaborated with artists like Trineice Robinson, Eli Yamin, Ron Korb, Anil Veeraraj, Tom Teasley and Kane Mathis.
Her next endeavor ‘Mazi’ is a collection of songs from various languages around the world that helps her delve into a time these songs were sung. Her first single release as part of the album Mazi is ‘Moj Dilbere’, a Bosnian Sevdah song that explores the melancholy of unrequited love or sorrows of loss of love. Somdatta continues to explore unique global expressions of music and uncharted territories with her world music album: "Mazi". Somdatta is currently pursuing her master’s in Dance Movement Therapy at Rider University in the US and was declared the Andrew J. Rider Scholar for 2021-2022 and continues her interdisciplinary pursuit of the arts.
