Roy, Saumitra

Somu is a Biomedical Engineer and works at the Shepherd Center Hospital as a Research Scientist at Hulse Lab for Spinal Cord Injury. Saumitra 'Somu' Ray is a percussionist, vocalist, composer and tabla player. He has won the Indian Cultural talent search scholarship from the Government of India at the age of 12. He has travelled across India performing at prestigious Indian classical music concerts and has won all India tabla solo championships. He won the best solo instrumental player award at the prestigious ‘FirodiyaKarandak’. Saumitra was born in a musical family. His mother was an accomplished singer and exponent of Hindustani Classical music. Somu would spend hours listening to his mother’s concerts or 'riyaz' sessions. He was fascinated by the intricate rhythmic pattern-work of the instrument ‘tabla’ and felt an instant connection. He started learning tabla at the age of 4 and began his own musical journey. Saumitra discovered his passion for singing as a part of his college band. He was naturally drawn to Bollywood songs, ghazals, rabindrasangeet and sang in inter-collegiate music competitions. After moving to the United States, has continued performing at various venues in Florida, , California and recently in Georgia. He has been well appreciated for his rendition of old songs by Kishore, Mukesh and Rafi and he also enjoys singing new songs by Papon, Sonu Nigam and Shaan. He has also produced two songs and collaborated on a house song ‘Bin Tere’. In 2015, Somu won the Audience appreciation award at Atlanta Indian Idol 2015. Somu is also an accomplished ballroom and salsa instructor. Watch Somu singing at IACA Valentine’s day event https://www.facebook.com/DesiRhythmsOfAtlanta/

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