Soumik Datta (born c. 1983) is a Bengali-born British Indian musician and composer, who specialises in the sarod.[1] He was born in Mumbai and brought up in London.[2] His brother is the photographer and filmmaker Souvid Datta.
Sons of banker father Soumilya and writer/art-house film director mother Sangeeta Datta,[3][4][5] Soumik and Souvid Datta both attended Harrow School and Soumik was trained in the sarod by Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta, whom he called "grandfather".[2] He went on to University College London, then studied at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, graduating in 2009 with an MMus in Composition.[6] In 2006, he was invited by Jay-Z to play at the Royal Albert Hall and he subsequently performed on stage with Beyoncé, but declined an offer to join her on tour.[2]
Soumik Datta contributed to the musical scores of the films Brick Lane (2007), Life Goes On (2009), and Gangs of Tooting Broadway (2013).
In 2017, he curated a festival of music and dance at the Horniman Museum in London.[7] In the same year, he presented Tuning 2 You: Lost Musicians of India, a documentary directed by his brother Souvid.[8]
In June 2019, Datta performed at the Glastonbury Festival. Later in the year he was signed by Bucks Music Group.[9]