Throughout India, in towns and villages beyond the reach of tourist brochures, countless musicians play traditional instruments and melodies that have stirred souls for centuries. These artists are well known locally but are hidden, ignored by the metropolitan mainstream.

For the past year, two talented brothers from London, Soumik Datta (virtuoso sarod player) and Souvid Datta (award winning photojournalist), have travelled through some of India’s remotest regions filming, recording and playing with amazing musicians.

They bring us close-up to musicians of extraordinary skill and sensitivity, musicians well known in their local communities but likely to be eclipsed by speeding urbanisation and modernity.

Their series, Tuning 2 You, discovers some of these musicians off India's more beaten tracks.

Brought up in London, Soumik Datta has often been referred to as a British sarod maestro. While his speed and precision with the instrument often dazzle and delight, it is his ability to bring together the traditional and the modern that has made him one of the most acclaimed sarod players of his generation. Mercury Award winner Talvin Singh describes him as “Darjeeling tea meets Coca Cola”. Soumik was trained by Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta and holds a master’s degree from London’s Trinity College of Music. He also plays the edorsa (electric sarod) and composes music for feature films. To date, he has collaborated with renowned figures in dance, music, and literature, such as Nitin Sawhney, Beyonce, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Talvin Singh, Akram Khan and Javed Akhtar.

This programme is organised in Conjunction with Kalaa Utsavam - Indian Festival of Arts