Pt. Alok Lahiri’s Sarod playing reflects the subtlety, aestheticism and nostalgic spirituality of his own style & gharana while combining it with resonant power and intensity to captivate the listeners with the beauty and originality of his Sarod playing. Initially, Pt. Alok Lahiri grew his passion in music from his father Late Shri Anil Chandra Lahiri who had a keen interest in playing Sarod. The intense desire to immerse himself into the intricacies of music got satisfied when he first went to Sangeetacharya Pt. Buddhadev Ganguly to be introduced with the basic nuances of Sarod playing. After this fundamental 'taalim' he became one of the foremost disciples of eminent Sarod players Sangetacharya Pt. Shyam Gangopadhyay and Pt. Kamal Mullick of the legendary Maihar Gharana and got extensive training from them for a long period of time. To expand his repertoire of the different Gharana Pt. Lahiri then went to Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. Pt. Lahiri won the President’s Gold Medal award for musical excellence, standing first in All India Radio music competition in 1975. Pt. Lahiri has taken part in many Classical Music conferences & festivals all over India and has played across the world (UK, Europe, USA, Canada, Russia, Middle East, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Hong Kong etc) engaging himself in the propagation of Hindustani Classical Music.
Pt. Lahiri possess the dignity of performing in the ‘Europe Parliament’ in Strasbourg, Cannes World Music Festival, France and Canada Culture Days in Hamilton as first Indian along with his son & disciple Abhisek Lahiri. A particular strength of Pt. Lahiri is duets. For this he has been sought out by eminent musicians and maestros of Indian Classical Music. In fact his Sitar- Sarod duet recording with Pt. Manilal Nag from Gathani records is considered exemplary in its genre. Pt. Lahiri is regular artist of All Indian Radio & National Television, Kolkata and also has been invited by these forums for composing orchestrations for special occasions. He has also been responsible for the sound tracks of several Indian Films notably International film Director Satyajit Ray’s “Shatranj ki Khiladi” (The Chess Player). Pt. Lahiri was formerly attached with the Cultural Department, Government of WB. Pt. Lahiri has been honored by the post of Director of Indian Music in Freies Musikzentrum, Stuttgart- Germany. Along with his wife Smt. Kajal Lahiri, Pt. Lahiri now operates “Sur Sangam Academy of Music” through which he has become a beloved teacher of Sarod, Sitar and other instruments to scores of students of all ages globally.
