S. Sowmya

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S. Sowmya, born on 16 April 1969 in Tamil Nadu, is a renowned Carnatic vocalist. She learned music from her father Srinivasan and later from S. Ramanathan and Smt. T. Muktha. She received the Sangeetha Kalanidhi (2019) and Isai Perarignar (2022) titles. On 8 April 2022, she was named Vice Chancellor of the Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Music & Fine Arts University for a three-year term. She holds master's degrees in Chemistry and Indian Music and earned a PhD from the University of Madras for research on the physical characteristics of the mridangam.

Sowmya began performing at age 11 and made her mark at the Madras Music Academy in 1986, delivering yearly concerts for decades. She has performed across India and abroad, and acted in the film Vaanavil Vaazhkai (2015). She has served as a judge on TV shows such as Vijay TV’s Super Singer and other Carnatic music programs on Raj TV and Jaya TV. In 1998 she co-founded Carnatica, an organization for classical music and dance, and co-authored Nadanubhava, a reference CD-ROM on Carnatic music. She is a visiting professor at the Advanced School of Carnatic Music in Madras and has been part of the academic council of Tamil Nadu Music & Fine Arts University and the Kalakshetra Foundation.