Bhubaneswar, Jan. 8: When 19-year-old Suraj Patnaik performed a chhanda piece at a musical evening here on Saturday, it was hard to believe that he was born and brought up in Chicago. Patnaik’s voice surprised the audience as he sang in Odia with ease.

He performed at the Idcol Auditorium along with singer Adyasha Das, the daughter of author Pratibha Ray, at a musical concert organised by cultural institute Raaga.

While Adyasha performed spiritual and devotional ancient Odia poems, Patnaik won the hearts of listeners with his rendition of traditional Odia compositions.

“I loved performing here. It was encouraging to see veteran musicians and members from the audience appreciating a newcomer like me,” said Patnaik. When asked how he manages to sing in Odia so fluently, he gave the credit to his guru, the legendary Raghunath Panigrahi, and his family members.

“My family has kept Odia culture and traditions intact in our daily life. We speak in Odia at home. Though traditional Odia poetry has difficult words, my guruji has trained me well. That gives me confidence to perform,” he said. Patnaik has trained in Hindustani music under the tutelage of Mani Majumdar since the age of five. But it was Pratibha Ray, who encouraged him to learn more of Odissi music and perform in Odisha.

“Once when Adyashaji was in the US for a performance, she stayed with us. Pratibhaji was accompanying her then. They lauded my versatility and encouraged me to learn Odissi. That was in 2006 when I also performed for the first time in Bhubaneswar. There I met my guru. I was very lucky that he trained me. In 2008, he was in the US when I further got a chance to improve my vocal skills,” said Patnaik.

Patnaik wishes to maintain a balance between Hindustani, Odissi and different forms of contemporary music. He is currently a member of a popular A capella group called Xtension Chords of the University of Illinois where he is studying psychology and pre-medicine.

“There is so much to learn in Odisha. I wish to come at least once a year to gain more knowledge of music,” Patnaik said.