Vidushi Sumitra Guha, Padma Shri Awardee

Sumitra Guha was born in an Andhra family to Smt. Rajyalakshmi Raju and R. G. Narayana Raju in a village near Tirupati.

Her first tutor was her mother, who imbued music with a spiritual fervor. At the age of 11, she began her formal education in Carnatic Music under the acclaimed S. R. Janakiraman (Sangeetha Vidwan). After completing her pre-university course, Sumitraji went to Viswa Bharati University in Shantiniketan to do her graduation in Philosophy. It is here that she found herself getting drawn to Hindustani music.

In 1964, Sumitraji started learning Hindustani Classical music under Pt. A. Kanan and Vidushi Malobika Kanan of the Kirana Gharana. The depth of the alaap, the slow elaboration of notes in the vistaar and the stability of swaras now became her style. She assimilated both their styles in her music, and later received instruction from Pt.Sushil Kumar Bose, the accomplished disciple of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan

Coming to Kolkata at a tender age following her marriage into a Bengali family held great meaning, since it marked the start of her journey into the newfound world of Hindustani classical vocal music.

From stone to stone she stepped and in 1972, became an artist of the All India Radio (AIR). , she got the opportunity to participate in several chain concerts, Radio Sangeet Sammelans and national programmes for AIR and Doordarshan. By 1995, she became a Top Grade artist of the All India Radio.

In addition, she is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Padma Shri from the Government of India in the year 2010, and she is also an outstanding artist with Indian council for Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

Sumitra has also pioneered several extraordinary music projects which enables her to reach the common man through her music. In her project, Gondwana Dawn with double Grammy awardee Robin Hogarth, she gave stage to underprivileged children from Africa who came to Delhi to be a part of the music album and also to perform.

Sumitra travels extensively in India and around the world and continues to enthral audience across geographies and background with her soul stirring melodies. Her approach towards her profession has been that of sheer dedication to the art, perseverance to increase the depth of her repertoire and devotion to maintain the sanctity of Indian culture.

In addition, she is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Padma Shri from the Government of India in the year 2010, and she is also an outstanding artist with Indian council for Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). She has been conferred with Sangeet Natak Akademi award for the year 2020.

Yet another special project, Omkara, which was nominated in the world music category in last year's Hollywood Music in Media Awards. Her voice has brought out the connection of the seven chakras of the human body with her classical notes, thus bringing out the healing qualities of the divine vibrations. This has huge applications in the field of music therapy and this project is being used in various places in USA. She has also been a part of the documentary- one little finger which describes the abilities of the especially abled. Furthermore, the ALBUM- AUM, the Divine Sound was appreciated worldwide.

She is perhaps the first Andhra women who has specialized in Hindustani classical music. In her pursuit of the extraordinaire, she is one of the rare vocalists who besides being a lyricist and a composer, has mastered rare and ancient ragas like Hemavathi and Hansakinkini. She also belongs to rare breed who sings Carnatic ragas like Simhendra Madhyamam and Malaya Marutham in Hindustani style.

Sumitra has also contributed to uplift underprivileged sections of the society through her music.

Sumitra is a musician with a cause. A unit of her trust Sumadhur Hansadhwani has done enormous work for eye care amongst the under-privileged. So far, the unit has screened the eyes of more than 100,000 people and treated more than 5000 patients for various eye disorders completely free of cost.

During the lockdown, she leveraged the social media to give opportunities to upcoming artists and also continued reaching out to students around the world through online workshops.

Her ongoing project on Women Empowerment- MEERA, has been received with great applause in the nation. It was first presented on stage in 2019 and also on Doordarshan in March, 2021.

At present, she is working on the integration between the two Classical Music forms in India- Hindustani Classical Music and Carnatic Music.

She is also working on another interesting project with Oscar nominee Dr. Rupam Sarmah - Science, Music and Spirituality.

She proves her versatile musical prowess by singing a track for the internationally acclaimed Series- THE FAMILY MAN 2.

Perhaps, Sumitraji's musical talent and divinity can be summed up with one quote from one of her concert reviews in a leading Indian daily: "Not only human hearts, but stones could also melt".