Soumitra Thakur is a professional sitar player based out of the capital city of India, New Delhi. Born in 1993 to Uttam Thakur and Paramita Thakur in Ranchi, Soumitra completed his schooling from Kairali School, Ranchi and his graduation in Economics (honours) from Hindu College, University of Delhi.  Hailing from a rich and glorious heritage of the Bishnupur Gharana, he began his training in sitar at the tender age of four under his guru and uncle, Shri Prashanta Thakur. After training in the basics of sitar and classical music from Shri Thakur, he is now under the tutelage of sitar maestro, Pt Kushal Das, of the Maihar Gharana in Kolkata. He is fortunate enough to have received the warmth and blessings of Ustad Rashid Khan and Pt Alok Lahiri to name a few. His baaj reflects the Maihar and the Imdadkhani Etawah Gharana. In addition to performing in solo concerts, Soumitra has also performed in innumerable jugalbandis and collaborations with a bevvy of other instrumentalists and vocalists alike. He is also a part of a group project called ‘Sangam’, which seeks to bring a melodic amalgamation of Hindustani and Carnatic genres of Indian classical music through a fusion of their respective styles and symphonies. He started his musical journey at an early age of four. Achievements: Recipient of the Balshree Award (President’s Award) for creative performance in 2009 from the then-Honourable President of India, Smt Pratibha Patil Recipient of the National Scholarship from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India (CCRT) for sitar in 2007 (under the junior category) as well as in 2014 (under the senior category) Invited and performed a solo sitar performance at Navodit- Festival of Arts organised by the East Zonal Cultural Centre at Shantiniketan, West Bengal, 2015 Secured first position in the 20th National Youth Festival Competition in 2016 Conferree of the ‘Chacha Nehru Scholarship’ from the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), India for Excellence in Creativity at a National level from 2009 to 2012 Awarded the first position in ‘Doverlane Music Conference’, Kolkata, in the instrumental category for the 18-25 year age bracket Felicitated as the ‘Best Instrumentalist’ of the year 2011-2012 Selected to perform at the ‘Shakhri Begum Memorial Trust’ (SBMT), Kolkata, an institute pioneered by the legendary Ustad Rashid Khan Chosen to perform at the ‘Doverlane Music Conference’, Kolkata in August 2011 for securing the first position in a talent search contest held earlier&l