Sumitra Guha

Biography

Sumitra Guha, née Sumitra Raju, was born in Andhra Pradesh to a locally known singer, Rajyalakshmi Raju, and took to music at an early age, receiving the first lessons in music from her mother. Her formal education in music started at the age of eleven from S. R. Janakiraman, a renowned music guru. Simultaneously, she carried on with her academic education and joined Visva-Bharati University pursuing graduate studies in philosophy, which exposed her to Hindustani music. She started learning Hindustani music in 1964 and continued her music studies under Pandit A Kanan and Vidushi Malavika Kanan, and later received some guidance from Sushil Kumar Bose, a renowned exponent of music who learned under the tutelage of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.

Sumitra continued her studies even after her marriage at the age of 19, and in 1972, became a B-grade artist of the All India Radio. The same year, she debuted as a performer with her concert at Thirumala temple in Tirupati. At AIR, she got the opportunity to participate in four chain concerts of the station in 1982, 85, 89 and 90 and several Radio Sangeet Sammelans and national programmes for AIR and Doordarshan. By 1995, she got the title of Vidhushi.

Sumitra Guha is known to be proficient in Carnatic and Hidustani schools of music, known to be the first Andhra woman to sing Hindustani music, but is more aligned to the latter with a known leaning towards the Kirana Gharana. In 1995, the Central Production Centre of Doordarshan made a documentary, Ek Mulakat on the life of Sumitra Guha. She has also recorded for the Sangeet Natak Akademi and others such as MMY Music Foundation and HMV. She has performed across India and abroad and has also sung fusion music with renowmed musicians from abroad. Her performance at the India Habitat Centre, Delhi, in tandem with the double Grammy award winner, Robin Hogarth, based on Sant Kabir's music was a blend of Hindustani and African gospel music traditions. She has also done a music series by name, Tribute to the Musical Saints of India, was performed at various concerts in India. She has worked on a research-based music project by name, OMKARA - The Sound of Divine Love, Directed by Guinness World Record® holder Rupam Sarmah, Grammy award winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and others.

Sumitra Guha founded the Sumadhur Hansadhwani School of Music which continues to teach music in the traditional gurukula style.

Awards and recognitions

Sumitra has received many awards and honors starting from the gold medals she received from the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam at Tirupati and from the All India Vaggeykar Utsavams at Bhadrachalam in 1972. West Bengal Journalists Association awarded her the Best Vocalist of the Year prize in 1991 and a year later, she received the title Vidushi, in 1995.

Many music and arts organizations have recognized her; Sangeet Kala Ratna from the Sangeet Kala Kendra, Agra in 1997, Best Music Teacher award from the Sangam Kala Group at the National Music Awards 2006, Pt. Gama Maharaj Smriti Samman in 2006, Rashtra Bhushan Samman from the Vishwa Jagriti Mission in 2007, DTA Excellence Award from the Delhi Telugu Academy in 2008, Mahandhra Excellence Award from the Telugu Employers’ Welfare Association (Delhi), Face Award in 2009, Naadbrahm Shiromani from Sangeetanjali, Mumbai in 2010, Sangeet Vibhuti Samman from the Gandhi Hindustani Sahitya Sabha and Sangeet Shree Award from the Art and Cultural Trust of India, in 2011 are some of the awards Sumitra Guha has received during her career.

The Government of India included her in the 2010 Republic Day honours list for the fourth highest award of Padma Shri.