James Rubin

James Rubin was an enthusiastic collector and promoter of Indian music even though he had no formal training. He was the founder and executive director of the Pan Orient Arts Foundation, an organization that helped organize concerts by Indian artists in the United States. He was born in Boston in 1927; he graduated from Brookline High School in 1943 and Brown University in 1948. During World War II he served in the Army Air Corps. He was the vice president of the First Hartford Realty Company of Manchester, CT for 35 years until he retired in 1989. He died of leukemia on March 17, 1991 at the age of 64. The earliest recording in his collection is a performance by sitarist Ravi Shankar made at Rubin's Newtonville, MA home in March 1957; his last recording was made in Madras in December 1987. In the interval he traveled to India twenty times to attend the annual music festival in Madras and make recordings. He is still fondly remembered by musicians in Madras as 'Rubin Mama' (Uncle Rubin) for wearing Indian dress, his love of music, and his avuncular manner. He was a close associate of the famous singer M.S. Subbulakshmi and recorded many of her concerts. He arranged her nationwide tour of the United States that culminated in her famous performance at the United Nations