Madhavan Somanathan was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1991 and started playing the guitar at the age of 7. In 2001, he moved, along with his parents and guitar to Delhi, India. He continued to take classical guitar lessons with Jaspal Singh at the Delhi School of Music for several years and at the age of 14, he won first prize at the first National Classical Guitar Competition organized by the Guitar Guild of Goa in Panaji. In 2014, Madhavan won 3rd prize at the prestigious Calcutta International Guitar Festival becoming the first Indian guitarist to place at the competition since it's inception in 2010. He has performed for audiences in India, Germany, the U.S. and France. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Columbia University and currently studies guitar performance with world-renowned pedagogue and concertist Judicael Perroy, in Paris.