Rajan Somasundaram

Raleigh Rajan, is a composer, drummer, violinist and music producer and songwriter based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. He is known for bringing together Music and Literature and his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam films. He has made the first ever music album on Tamil Sangam period poetry in association with Durham Symphony and prominent international musicians. The album became Amazon's Top#10 bestseller under 'International Music albums' category in July 2020. The album was called "A Major event in the world of Music" by The Hindu Music review. He composed the theme song of the 10th World Tamil Conference with many international musicians as a tribute to Sangam period poet Kaniyan Pungundranar.

Early life and education Rajan Somasundaram was born in Thiruvarur, Tamil Nadu and started learning Carnatic music since he was 9 years old at the birthplace of Shyama Shastri. He graduated with a master's degree in Engineering.

Career In 2017, Rajan created a new Carnatic Raga, Svadhya, and released a single titled ‘Maya- The reflection of Self’ composed in the raga. In 2018, he released the first ever musical form for the prominent Sanskrit Advaita classical literature, Ashtavakra Gita Saksi I, in the raga Svadhya. Rajan has worked on jingles, corporate commercials and documentaries including Lexus cars and Xansa.

Rajan composed the theme song of the 10th World Tamil Conference scheduled at Chicago. He has composed the first ever musical form for the 2000 year old poetry, Yathum Oore, written by Sangam Period poet Kaniyan Pungundranar. Rajan mentioned that as a tribute to one of the most progressive ancient poetry that calls for unity and equality, he composed the theme song to cover multiple genres of music and brought in many international musicians of varying genres, ethnicity and languages. Singers Karthik (singer) and academy nominated Bombay Jayashri sang the song along with various international artists. Tamil writer S. Ramakrishnan appreciated the selection of Yathum Oore poem as the theme song to portray the Tamil cultural identity.

In January 2020, Rajan released the first ever music album on ancient Tamil Sangam poetry collaborating with Durham Symphony and leading international artists, titled Sandham- Symphony Meets Classical Tamil. The Hindu music review called the album "A Major event in the world of Music". The album was released worldwide through Apple iTunes and Spotify.

Discography

Filmography Year Title Description Notes20254 Seasons Directed by Vinod Parameswaran, Theater released Jan 2025 Malayalam Debut

Documentaries Redefining the concert experience Rajan has been a major proponent of redefining the Carnatic concert experience. In several interviews, he has spoken at length about the influence of the Bhakti movement and its positive and negative impacts on contemporary Carnatic concerts. While the Bhakti movement has greatly enriched the Carnatic repertoire, it has also limited new additions and innovations because of its ritualistic nature. For example, chords have permeated almost all forms of music since the 20th century, including Indian film music; however, Carnatic music does not use functional chord harmony and instead continues to rely primarily on melodic lines. According to Rajan, this restricts the extent to which a wider range of musical instruments can be used to express the emotions embedded in Carnatic compositions.

In August 2025, he spearheaded a sold-out, two-hour Carnatic concert based entirely on the Tamil epic Kamba Ramayanam at the Nack Theater, Dallas, TX. In addition to the traditional mridangam, violin, kanjira and tanpura, he incorporated piano—playing both chords and melodic leads—within traditional Carnatic ragas. The concert also featured poetry appreciation segments before each piece and digital paintings as a visual backdrop, enhancing the overall experience.