About Dayita
Dayita Datta is a vocalist, educator, collaborator, and passionate advocate of North Indian Classical Music, who has been teaching and performing across Southern California for over a decade. She is the Founder and Director of Shruti Music Academy, a premier institute dedicated to preserving and promoting the timeless traditions of Hindustani Classical Vocal Music. At the academy, students of all ages receive structured, age-appropriate training designed to help them master the intricacies of raga, tala, and voice culture.
A disciple of the legendary Hindustani vocalist Late Vidushi Lakshmi Shankar, eminent vocalist Pandit Sandip Ghosh, and Vidushi Manjusha Patil, Dayita carries forward a rich artistic lineage rooted in authenticity and tradition. She also studied Rabindrasangeet, the songs composed by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore under Late Dr. Bulbul Sengupta, former Dean of Fine Arts at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. Dayita has an M.A. in Hindustani Vocal Music, an M.A. in Rabindrasangeet, and a B.A. in Western Classical Music.
Dayita is a graded artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan. She has also been recognized with several prestigious grants from ACTA (“Music Apprentice,” “Music Development”) and the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division. She performed for three consecutive years at Art Night Pasadena, one of the city’s signature cultural events, and has collaborated with acclaimed artists and ensembles such as Quartetto Fantastico, cellist Pete Jacobson, harpist Kaffee Mimun, and the Shakti Group led by renowned Bharatanatyam exponent Viji Prakash.
Her performances have graced venues including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State LA, James Armstrong Theater, Pasadena Conservatory of Music, Music Circle, Norton Simon Museum, and USC Pacific Asia Museum, among many others. Internationally, she has performed at the Michael J. Fox Theater (Canada), Indumati Sabha Griha, Jadavpur University (Kolkata, India), and the MST Annual Music Conference (Kolkata, India).
With her background in both Western and Hindustani classical traditions, Dayita integrates Western pedagogical methods with Indian classical training—using ragas, taals (rhythmic structures), solfege (note singing), and Orff instruments such as recorders, xylophones, and glockenspiels, alongside Indian percussion and vocal compositions. At Shruti Music Academy, her student ensembles often blend these elements, reflecting her cross-cultural and holistic approach to music education.
For the past 14 years, Dayita has also served as an Orff-certified Music Specialist at the Children’s Center of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). In this role, she has conducted numerous educator workshops for Pasadena City College’s Child Development Workshop Initiative (CDWFI), Caltech, and the Early Childhood STEM Conference held in Costa Mesa and Pasadena since 2014.
Through her performances, teaching, and community engagement, Dayita continues to champion North Indian Classical Music—bridging cultures, inspiring curiosity, and nurturing a deep appreciation for this ancient art form among audiences and students alike.
@: shrutimusicacademy@gmail.com
Ph: 626-354-0954
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