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Summer of song
If music be the food of love, then the recently held summer camp for aspiring singers at the PNCA, Karachi, was quite a feast. On a balmy Sunday evening last week, the grand finale of the singing camp was performed and fervently applauded.
An adequate sound system along with musicians like Mumtaz sahib on the tabla and Ghani sahib on the harmonium supported meticulously prepared renditions performed by the finalists.
Considering their amateur status, two brothers, Sultan Amir Khan and Sultan Kashif Khan, bagged the first and the second prize, respectively, at the ceremony. Tamizuddin Faruqi received the third prize and Husnain Hyder walked away with the consolation prize.
Among the female singers, Maria Pasha received the first and Hanna Pasha the second prize, while Maliha Rashid was awarded the third prize. The consolation prize went to Zulekha Ghani.
A special mention here of the winner of the first prize in the male category, Amir, who literally held the audience spellbound with his rendition of Talat Mehmood’s Tasveer banata hoon, tasveer nahin banti and then Iqbal Bano’s Payal mein geet hain cham cham ke, for which he received a hearty round of applause from the raving audience.
These performances were followed by a collective rendition by all the participants who sang the initial sa, re ga ma, leading to a patriotic song. They performed with great perfection and one could see the hard work put in by the ustads to not only teach the students but also display confidence and comfort while singing in front of a sizable crowd. How many make it to become big names in the world of song is something which only time will tell.
On a reverse note, for the 64 participants who finally made it to the camp from among 400 applicants, classes were held three days a week by Pride of Performance recipient Ustad Niaz Ahmed and Karam Abbas. The two music teachers taught the aspiring vocalists raga aiman along with its thaats and bandish. “The idea was to bring the students abreast with the important raga and its variations,” said Dr Saira Khan, the driving force behind Mauseqaar, “so that they understand the nuances of singing.”
While the participants got to learn from the learned ustads free of charge, a generous proportion of the expenses were generated by donors who helped make the event a success. “The students mostly belonged to the middle class and we most pleased by the overwhelming response. The summer camp was a good way of hunting for talent and supporting those who sing well but do not find a platform,” said Amin-i-Ajam, the secretary-general.
Mauseqaar plans to hold more summer camps to hunt for talent in the future. Initially started out as a small club of classical music lovers, the office-bearers now plan to turn it into an academy. The summer camp finale has been quite instrumental in energizing a new resolve into the present bunch of music enthusiasts and their effort in this direction is commendable. “We are not stopping here but moving on to explore new frontiers,” said an excited student of the summer camp.
The event was at par with other such events held in the past by Mauseqaar, which believes in fuelling public interest in classical music. Adds Dr Saira, “The success of the summer camp has been like a dream come true as the arts have been a neglected area since long. Any effort in this regard should be lauded.”
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