KARACHI: Though many had claimed that the PSL final being held on Sunday would restrain crowds from attending the final day of the All Pakistan Music Conference (APMC), the crowd proved otherwise. Music connoisseurs and lovers of the classical music genre were aplenty, and the performances did not disappoint.

The first performers of the night were Ibad Ali and Gul Mohammed, on the clarinet and the sarangi respectively. A jugalbandi between the two, the piece they performed was raag Chandrakauns and both performers clearly rivalled any interest among the crowd about the final cricket match by treating the audience to a very superior performance.

Ibad Ali is a shagird of Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan and his father Ustad Baba Fakir Hussain. However, it was young Gul Mohammed who stole the spotlight. Hailing from the sixth generation of sarangi players, Gul Mohammed is the grandson of Ustaad Ghulam Mohammad Khan, and started his training at the age of 13 from his father, Akhtar Hussain.

He also spent four years at the National Academy of Performing Arts under the tutelage of Ustad Nafees Ahmed and currently performs regularly with organisations such as the Tehzeeb Foundation as well as the music band Sounds of Kolachi.

Despite a few technical glitches and the roars from a match viewing crowd across the street, the performance was one of the highlights of the three day music conference and left the crowd wanting.

Belonging to the 11th generation of the Gwalior Gharana is Mohammad Muslim Shaggan, the grandson of Ghulam Hassan Shaggan who was awarded the Pride of Performance and Sitara-i-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan. Still under training, Muslim Shaggan’s talent is considered to be very promising and thus he was given space to perform on stage and upped the ante.

He started his performance with the raag bihag, with Ustad Bashir on the tabla and Idrees Hussain on harmonium in his support.

The APMC has over the years worked hard to encourage young performers and provide them with the opportunity to perform alongside classical music veterans and this year was no different.

According to Ayla Raza of the APMC, efforts in the past few years have been directed towards encouraging young and upcoming artists, and bringing them to the forefront and the performers at the 14th APMC clearly reflected these efforts.

“One can now see a stronger and confident approach towards presenting classical music to audiences.”

Another new performer introduced on the second day of the APMC was flute player Zulqarnain Haider who shared his inspiration behind his choice of instrument. According to Haider, from a very young age he was inspired by the sounds of the flute. For him, it was an extension of the voice of nature which pulled him in.

A shagird of Ustad Abid Hussain since the age of 10, Haider’s performance at the APMC induced nostalgia in the audience for simpler times, and one felt surrounded by the contentment and peace that only nature can evoke.

Dr Imran Abbas Khan of the Gwalior Gharana and Dr Shams Rashidi also performed on the second day of the APMC.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2017