Vasant Rai has been highly acclaimed as a virtuoso Sarodist, brought to this country India’s highly respected tradition of classical music.
He was a genius of a performer, who possesed the rare gift of being able to communicate the technique and the soul of a musical tradition that dates back 4000 years. His extraordinary skill, technique, and musicianship on the Sarod reflect the long and arduous training that he received from Ustad Allauddin Khan, the famed teacher of Nikhil Banerjee, Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan. Expressing the same universal spirit as his teacher and Guru, Vasant Rai played many instruments, including Guitar, Flute, Violin, Sitar, and Voice, in addition to the Sarod.

He performed innumerable concerts, lectures demonstrations, and in-residencies in the US and around the world. Mr. Rai also received numerous awards in recognition of his talents. Vasant Rai is recognized not only as a sensitive performer but also as a brilliant composer. He recorded several successful albums for Vanguard Records, which feature traditional Indian Ragas as well as East-West Fusions. Mr. Rai was the founder of the Alam School of Indian Classical Music in New York City, and the designer of an intensive six-week course, taught at Columbia University in 1973, introducing the intricate aspects of Indian music.

ALAM SCHOOL OF INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC
Vasantji came to New York in 1973 to teach an intensive course in Indian Music at Columbia University. Shortly thereafter, he started his own Alam School of Indian Classical Music, named in honor of his teacher Ustad Allauddin Khan who was known to his family as Alam. It’s Board of Directors was composed of Barbara Stoler Miller, James R. Miller, Alexander Hixon, Sheila Hixon, and Donald Heller and its Advisory Board included, among others, Professor Ainslie Embree, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Alla Rakha, and John McLaghlin. Vasantji taught Sarod, Sitar, guitar, flute, violin, harmonium, and vocal music. In 1979, Surya Prakash Sinha, the jurist, author, and Vasantji's student in Sitar took over the management of the School and organized its various aspects. He moved the School to a studio on West 10th Street. He also acted as Vasantji's concert manager. In fact, Prakashji became Vasantji's right hand man in both professional and personal matters. When Vasantji left for India in 1984 to spend his cancer-struck last days in his family home in Unjha (Gujarat), Prakashji closed the School down for good. He has remained a true and trusted friend of the surviving family.

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