String Theory

Get to know London-based sarod virtuoso Soumik Datta, who’s keeping classical music relevant in an age of ever-diminishing attention spans

"What does it mean to have music in your blood?” asks Soumik Datta. “I mean, I get muscle memory, but can it be in our DNA?” For the London-based sarod virtuoso, roots are of paramount importance. But he’s also convinced that it’s just as crucial to be able to build bridges between the traditional and contemporary.

That means re-imagining the opera for a new generation in The Last Rainmaker, an ambitious project with the Royal Opera House in London that involves beat boxers and Korean singers; collaborating with folk percussion artist Cormac Byrne to re-score Satyajit Ray’s 1969 cult classic Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne as a mix of contemporary orchestra and Indian classical and folk sounds, performing it around the world and producing it as an album with the Globe Theatre; and going on road trips to seek out India’s forgotten music traditions in the second season of his DIY webseries Tuning 2 You.