KARACHI:
After a four-day showcase of the fusion between eastern and western classical music, the International Music Festival, organised by National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa), drew to a close on Sunday. With the tagline, ‘Bridging cultures through music,” the event featured musicians from the United States, Italy and Germany, along with local artistes.
The third day of the event comprised a performance by US-based pianist Kimball Gallagher. The evening kicked off with a fusion composed by Napa student Arsalan Parvez. The song was aptly titled ‘Karachi to Austin’, as it fused both eastern and western music. Apart from composing the set, Arsalan played the guitar along with Napa faculty member Ustad Nafees Ahmed on sitar, Waqas Ghulab on tabla and Kimball on piano.
Expectations from the evening’s performances were high due to the bar set by performances on the preceding day, which featured by celebrated maestros of Pakistani classical music, such as Ustad Hamid Ali Khan, Ustad Salamat Hussain and Ustad Bashir Khan.
And the performers didn’t disappoint. Their stints were appreciated by audience members, with one member, Anas Ayaz, a university student, saying, “Unlike the previous two days, there was more fusion of different music styles on display today [day three].” He added, “(Karachi to Austin is perhaps one of the best, if not the best, compositions of the festival.)” Another audience member, Alyzeh Khan, who is training to be a vocalist, stated, “The best thing about today was that it had something for the youth. As the previous two days saw musicians play more classical than contemporary music.”
Nafees did a unique jugalbandi with tabla players Bashir and Imam Abbas. He shared that he made the routine different in terms of its tone and arrangement. “Very rarely do we get to see two great tabla players perform side-by-side. And the beauty of this performance is that no one is right and wrong,” he commented. The performance was received with a standing ovation from the audience.
The highlight of the night was Kimball’s bandish in raga ‘Jaunpuri’, which featured budding vocalist Akbar Ali and tabla player Waqas Ghulab. “This is a deep composition by American composer Michael Harrison, who had studied Indian classical music and vocals,” explained Kimball.
With a great turnout, the fourth and final day of the festival was its busiest. The Hathor Plectrum Quartet from Italy played two songs from the Irish suite along with a number titled Song from Naples. Antonio Schiavone, the mandolin player of the group, shared that its composer hadn’t visited Naples before composing the song, but still received commendation for it. The Italian group also played soundtracks of famous Italian movies and showcased their rendition of Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah.
The audience praised the organisers for pulling off an event with diverse performers and expressed even higher expectations from forthcoming Napa events. “After attending two days of the festival, I’m looking forward to Napa’s International Theatre Festival, which will take place next year,” said an audience member.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 9th, 2014.
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