Supriya Seen has blended santoor with electronic music for her tracks Petrichor and Maya

Jalandhar-based Santoor exponent Surpriya Seen (27) was born and raised in a musical environment. Her father Pandit Manu Kumar Seen is sitar artiste and her grandfather is the legendary tabla stalwart of Punjab Gharana Sangeetacharya Lachhman Singh Seen. She holds a post-graduate degree in business administration but santoor remains her first love.

Inspired by the laurels brought by family elders, Surpriya started learning classical vocal from her Dadaguru Lachhman Singh Seen till the age of 16. Later, she got attracted to the sound of santoor after she heard Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma playing the instrument.

“I was so enamoured that I just decided then and there to learn santoor. That very day my father brought home a beautiful santoor for me and the rest is a history,” says Surpriya. She adds, “There were challenges while learning the santoor. I worked very hard to grasp and master the intricacies involved in playing the instrument and my passion and hard work paid me rich dividends. Today with the blessings of Guru and my father, I am one of leading female santoor exponents in the region. I learnt the subtle techniques of gayaki, besides the traditional compositions as the santoor is considered as a folk instrument also.”

Petrichor was a collaboration of two genres— Indian classical music and electronic music.