Sangita Sowmya

S. Sowmya (born 16 April 1969) is one of the foremost Carnatic vocalists of her generation. Born into a traditional South Indian family, she was recognized as a child prodigy who could identify ragas as a toddler — a recording of her identifying ragas at the age of two exists at All India Radio, Kozhikode. She initially learned music from her father M. Srinivasan, then received advanced training from the renowned musicologist S. Ramanathan and Smt. T. Muktha. She made her concert debut at age 11 at the samadhi of Sadasiva Brahmendra in Nerur, and first performed at the Madras Music Academy at 17 in 1986, performing there annually for 35 years. She holds a PhD from the University of Madras for her research on the physical characteristics of the mridangam, along with Master's degrees in both Chemistry and Indian Music. In 1998, she co-founded Carnatica, an institution dedicated to classical music and dance instruction and archival. She was awarded the prestigious Sangeetha Kalanidhi title by the Madras Music Academy in 2019, the Isai Perarignar by Tamil Isai Sangam in 2022, and was appointed Vice Chancellor of the Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Music & Fine Arts University in 2022.