His mother with a refined taste in music was the first person to recognise his singing talents and started grooming him when he was only five years old. A promising young classical vocalist, Aizaz Sohail was born in Karachi to a businessman.

Enjoying the pleasure of singing since his childhood, he is doing public performances for more than a decade.

Lucky to be trained at a tender age, her mother would sing difficult parts of the songs and inspired him to learn from it.

“Being part of school choir band, I always insisted to have the front mic to be a lead singer. Performing in the competition during college days boosted my confidence. In one of the performances, Tina Sani was also singing. She appreciated and helped me a lot regarding how to control voice and perform at stage. I am grateful to her for being my first teacher,” he recalls.

In 2006, his family permanently moved to Lahore. They always encouraged him to pursue his passion for singing without compromising on formal professional studies.

While studying engineering, we made a musical society. The activity helped me explore my artistic potentials during the academic studies, he says.

“When I got my first job as a telecom engineer, I joined the academy of Ustad Abdul Rauf in evening for basic formal training in classical music. After a year’s practice (riaz) with the Ustad, I was confident enough to perform in the All-Pakistan Music Conference (APMC),” he recalls.

His stunningly good performance was well received by the audience and he was awarded a gold medal in classical category in 2013. Since then he is regularly performing at the APMC.

Interaction with legendary classical Indian maestro, Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, his students Anol Chatterjee and Brajeswar Mukherjee was a watershed moment in journey of Aizaz as a vocalist.

“I was corresponding with Kaushiky Chakraborty to invite her for performance at the APMC. We couldn’t manage her visit due to lack of resources. But, in the process, I got an opportunity to interact with these legends online.

“I would send my recordings to them and their feedback helped me a great deal in developing my understanding of music and refining the performance of classical ragas,” he acknowledges.

Participation in a reality show, Pakistan Superstars, in which he got the second position, led him to his present mentor Faheem Mazhar.

PTV producer Omer Khan, who was among the judges of reality show, invited me to perform in the Weekend World several times and introduced me to Mohsin Jaffer, the senior producer, and to vocalist Faheem Mazhar, presenter of a show based on classical music.

“I performed with a group of singers to narrate the anatomy of ragas in the opening part of sixteen episodes, till the show was closed, he adds.

He became formal shagird (pupil) of Faheem Mazhar. Working with him was a wonderful experience. Though I was learning online from Indian singers, at that stage I was feeling to have someone’s physical presence at my performances, to point out the mistakes and guide me, he relates.

When the teacher-student relationship is not on a material basis, it is pure like the relation of a guru and disciple, only then he can teach you and set you free to teach others as well.

I am lucky to have very generous teachers; so I am teaching a small group of youngsters wholeheartedly to pass on what I got from my gurus, he says.

Gifted with a soft, melodious and cultured voice, he stands out among his contemporaries, for a sound command on classical singing, which he mastered with a focused approach and constant hard work over years. Rather than running after fame or money in mainstream commercial music industry, he earns his living by teaching in engineering institutions and has dedicated himself to classical singing. With a lot of potential to grow, Aizaz Sohail is a good omen for Pakistani classical music and an inspiring example to be followed by the young aspirants.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2017