January 17, 2006	Tuesday	Zilhaj 16, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 16: The All Pakistan Music Conference will hold its third three-day annual festival from Jan 20-22 at the National Academy of Performing Arts. This was announced at a press conference on Monday at the Karachi Press Club by the chairman of APMC-Karachi, Jamil Syed.

Ayla Reza and Umar Khakwani, the secretary and ex-council member, respectively were also present on the occasion.

Responding to a question, Mr Syed said that the only setbacks faced by the body so far had been in terms of minor organizational glitches.

He said that there had been an overwhelming amount of support from music connoisseurs.

Speaking at the conference, Ayla Reza said that the APMC had taught the masses to appreciate classical music with the help of talented teachers and sponsorship from the corporate sector.

She said that the people comprising the council and board members were all working voluntarily.

“Classical is the basis of all kinds of music and last year guitarist Amir Zaki performed with Nafees Ahmed on the sitar in a jugalbandi session in an effort to fuse contemporary and classical music while trying to develop a culture for the latter,” she added.

Later, she invited Ustad Naseeruddin Saami and tabla player Ustad Bashir Khan to speak on the occasion.

Ustad Bashir Khan lauded the fact that it was under the banner of the APMC that they gained the opportunity to display their skills. Ustad Naseeruddin seconded his thoughts.

Steering the course of the discussion towards the new generation, Ms Reza said that they had witnessed the youth increasingly involved with the festival. As a result, modern musical outfits such as the Mekaal Hasan Band and Fuzon were taken on.

“The basic idea is to promote a festival that is free of all economic boundaries and offering very affordable membership to remove any misconceptions regarding classical music, and to find new ways and means of further promoting it,” she said.

She also said that plans were underway to put together a network to send local music talent to world music festivals, leading to further exposure of local singers and thereby Pakistan.

According to the APMC press release, those lined up to perform during the three-day festival include Ustad Hamid Ali Khan, Mehnaz Begum, Ashraf Sharif Khan, Ikhlaq Hussain, Ustad Nafees Ahmed Khan, Ustad Raza Ali Khan, Sara Zaman and Mekaal Hasan Band among others. In addition, young performers will also perform in the festival besides receiving token cash awards. The names of international participants have yet to be announced. Also available at the venue for sale will be a set of four CDs comprising the ‘Best Of’ collection of the 2005 APMC baithak.