KARACHI, Jan 23: Not many good things happen on a regular basis, or in a disciplined manner, in this country. But it was a different case this time. The first All Pakistan Music Conference (APMC) was held in the city in February 2004. The second came on time — exactly after one year in February 2005 — and now this third three-day conference on 20th, 21st and 22nd January 2006.

It went off smoothly, with a full house on all the three nights, at the Hindu Gymkhana where the notorious cellphones did not unsettle performing artistes frequently, women sat in silence listening to every performance with rapt attention, and men did not mix PR with classical music. Every artiste who had arrived in the city from outstations had profuse praises for the solemnity and decorum displayed by the Karachi crowd — young and old.

And what impressive musical talent among the young is unfolding before us — thanks to the opportunity provided by this annual event. It becomes evident that young people are interested in learning classical music in the country; it is just that they need a platform to perform to a larger audience and get fully charged in order to work still harder, compete with others and become complete musicians. Who would have thought that a 15-year-old lad would present raag Joge on the sitar with confidence, like a professional, with proper execution of alap, jore, bilampat, durat and jhala? And what absolute delight it was to watch young Javed Bashir and his handsome looking brother Akbar Ali presenting the famous Amir Khan tarana of raag hans dhun with such abandon!

Javed and Akbar are the nephews and shagirds of Lahore-based Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan. Interestingly, Javed Bashir is also the lead singer with the well-known Mekaal Hasan band that had performed the previous night. To me personally, this hans dhun presentation by the two brothers (whose voices and style have developed in the mould of Ustad Amir Khan) was one of the best parts of the three-day event. And what about Sara Zaman, a charming lady from Lahore, shagird of Ustad Chotay Ghulam Ali Khan and Baba Tufail Narowwaleay. Sara was instrumental in setting up the music department at the NCA, Lahore. If one had heard her voice on the radio instead of at the music conference, one would have thought that some Indian singer of the rank of Kishori Amonkar or Parabha Atre or Vina Saharsbudhe was singing -– such vocal refinement God has gifted her with. Her rendition of raag behag was very impressive.

Instrumentalists who received much applause from the audience were sitar player Ashraf Sharif Khan (he lives in Kiel, Germany) who played raag jaijaiwanti; Ikhlaq Hussain (he has made a place for himself as a musician in New York) who played raag poorya kalyan; the ever-popular Nafis Ahmad (he heads the music department at NAPA) who beautifully presented raag basant mukhari; music composer and harmonium player Niaz Ahmad who played raag dhanikauns on the harmonium; Mumtaz Ali Sabzal presented raag malkaus on the banjo; Ustad Buland Iqbal played raag aiman on the sarangi; Ahsan Pappoo played raag jhinjhoti on the flute; and, of course, well-known tabla players -– Ustad Bashir Khan, Ustad Nazeer Khan, Abdul Sattar Tari and his brother Shabbir Jhari -– provided accompaniment to singers as well as gave impressive solo performances. Both Sattar Tari and Shabbir Jhari live abroad.

A number of well-known vocalists presented a string of raags of different thaaths, thumri and ghazal: Ustad Zafar Ali Khan, Mehnaz Begum, Hanif Lashari, Javed Husain and Ghulam Khusro, Ustad Hamid Ali Khan, Ustad Nasiruddin Sammi, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan/Hameed Ali Khan, Salamat Ali, Ustad Raza Ali Khan from India, and the best of them all, Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan. But you have to pay a price for being a senior. Both in our mushairas and classical music concerts, the senior ustad comes last, sometimes at four or five in the morning. The sad part of it, most of the serious listeners, some of them having sat through against their doctor’s advice, have left for home, tired and hungry, and too groggy to comprehend and enjoy classical music due to lack of sleep.