Philharmonia Orchestra announces Soumik Datta as artist in residence

The Philharmonia Orchestra has today announced the appointment of Soumik Datta to the role of artist in residence. The composer, producer, TV presenter and sarod player will take on the role for the 2023-24 Season.

Datta will work with the orchestra and its musicians throughout the next 12 months. As artist in residence he is set to explore themes relating to ‘refugees and asylum seekers, diaspora, and social and racial inequality’. Datta’s residency will culminate in a performance at the end of the season showcasing a mixture of Western classical and South Asian music.

Philharmonia Orchestra chief executive Thorben Dittes said: ‘I’m so excited to see what Soumik and the Philharmonia musicians will create together during his year as our artist in residence. He is not just a master musician, but a master collaborator, and he shares our vision of music as a force for bringing people together and transforming the world into a better place for everyone.’

Launched in 2020 and now in its third year, the residency programme facilitates collaboration between the Philharmonia and a highly acclaimed artist from a non-classical tradition and is designed to explore and celebrate the fusion of the two art forms. The initiative has previously featured House of Absolute (2021-22) and Love Ssega (2022-23).

Having trained with sarod ‘legend’, Pt. Buddhadev Das Gupta, Datta uses both his talent and his charity, Soumik Datta Arts, to raise awareness about displacement and refugee mental health issues, as well as climate change. He has performed at events including the Proms, Glastonbury Festival, WOMAD, and Singapore Arts Festival and has collaborated with artists including Beyonce, Jay-Z, Nitin Sawhney, Akram Khan, Anoushka Shankar and, more recently, the BBC Singers, for whom he composed a work to commemorate 75 years of Indian independence.

Datta said: ‘Making music is an act of service for me. To be able to ignite human imagination and allow audiences to project their thoughts, feelings and worries onto my music fills me with gratitude and purpose. Now, as Philharmonia’s Artist in Residence, I hope to expand that fabric of sound, challenging myself and the Orchestra to hold our diverse listeners in a warm, inclusive, sonic embrace.’