Meet the Riyaaz Academy
Powered by a Board of Directors and Lead Instructor, Sonny
The Board Members founded Riyaaz Academy (a 501c3, registered nonprofit) to facilitate the learning of music, poetry and its surrounding culture. Not focused on classical music, the Academy aims to focus on music that sits in the folk, spiritual and "semi-classical" category.
The arts can do more than just entertain. Arts can facilitate community healing. With the deeper understanding of literature and folk traditions, artists can be torchbearers for this important work.
Artists have historically been used to tell stories, challenge the system and spread awareness. The academy enables arts and artists to aid in increasing civic engagement across Greater Houston.
A gift from the Das Family Foundation served as the initial funding to launch Riyaaz Academy. The Academy is grateful this visionary investment.
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Sonny K. Mehta
The lead instructor of Riyaaz Academy is Mr. Sonny K. Mehta. Mr. Mehta is the founder of the only American qawwali ensemble Riyaaz Qawwali. He has performed professionally for 17 years. Uniquely, his love for qawwali began in Texas, not in Pakistan or India!
Growing up, he lived - as immigrant kids do - straddling two different worlds: his South Asian home life juxtaposed with his American schooling. He spent his summers and sometimes winter breaks in South Asia. He used the time to soak in as much music and cultural knowledge about popular genres of the north Indian subcontinent, including qawwali, bhajan, kirtan, ghazal, classical and thumri. It's precisely this American upbringing and hybrid identity that allows him to be poised so well to teach across America. Today, as a full-time music entrepreneur, he divides his time between teaching, performing and creating new music.
Sonny has guest lectured at schools, universities and museums for over a decade. These include Harvard University, Dartmouth College, University of Chicago, Asia Society, Cummer Museum, Getty Museum and several elementary & high schools. He has been awarded commissions from music organizations, grants from the city and national funders, as well as media coverage from NY Times, NPR and Huffington Post.
