Soumik Datta | Hope Notes

A rich tapestry of refugee stories, electric sarod, strings and animation.

Soumik Datta is an award-winning musician, producer and television presenter. He plays the 19-stringed sarod and combines Indian music with spoken word, arts activism and electronica.

As part of a national tour, Soumik brings his company’s full-length production Hope Notes to Turner Sims. The project is a sensory feast to challenge social injustice through an uplifting, musical lens. Hope Notes was made in collaboration with refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Kenya, Bangladesh, Yemen, Cameroon and Uganda. It is a powerful tribute to the displaced communities of the world.

Soumik has collaborated with Beyonce, Jay-Z, Bill Bailey, Nitin Sawhney, Joss Stone, Anoushka Shankar, Arijit Singh, Akram Khan and Shankar Mahadevan to name a few.

Previous highlights include winning the Arts Council England Elevate Award and British Council’s COP26 x Climate commission. An Ambassador of Earth Day Network, Soumik’s work addresses urgent social and environmental issues through songs, music and film. He has presented television shows Rhythms of India (BBC4) and Tuning 2 You (Channel 4) and produced several radio shows for BBC Radio 3.