Delightful traditional folk tunes enthral audience

Islamabad :The Mausikaar trust organised a cultural show, with regional music and dance ranging from Gilgit/Baltstan to Sindh for its second program of the season in collaboration with All Pakistan Textile Mills Association. The event was held at the residence of a member.The programme began a little late maybe because of the venue being in Banigala where it’s often not easy to find the address, especially after dark! Welcoming the gathering, president Mausikaar, Dr Seema Khan said a few words about the trust as well as introduced the artistes and the instruments they would play. “What you are about to see and hear is just a fraction of our traditional folk culture,” she said. “The scope of it is very varied as it changes every two hundred miles or so and different sounds and movements can be found as you travel from one end of the country to the other.”The line up of artistes included, 'alghoza' by Akbar Khamiso; Harmed ur Rahman on ‘rubab’; flute by Salman Adil; Balti song and dance by a famous singer from Gilgit, Iqbal Hussain; Iqbal Ali on ‘tabla’ and Sajjad on ‘matka’ (water vessel). A break from the musical performances was provided by Saira Wilson Multani, who performed ‘dhamal’ and a number of other dances that are related to folk customs.The music the artistes played was quite familiar to most of the audience as these melodies have been heard from generation to generation, so there was quite a bit of singing along by some of the guests albeit in undertones! The young man from Gilgit appeared to be quite a trouper and tried to involve the audience – calling on his countrymen to join him in dancing on the stage.In between the acts Dr Seema gave short bio data on each artiste and his accomplishments; gave a brief explanation about the instruments and their history and generally acted as the MC of the evening.The programme showcased quite a mixed variety of our traditional folk music but it was a little too long in duration – which may have been because of certain circumstances beyond the control of the Mausikaar team. But their programs do provide a listening experience that suits all tastes and is the only private platform to preserve and promote our artistic talent in music, especially folk and classical.

from The News International - Islamabad https://ift.tt/32APvrW