LAHORE: Alhamra Live, a walk-in singing and instrument playing monthly show, for the general public, amateur and professional singers enthralled a large audience at Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall, on Thursday.

However, questions were also raised by the audience about the way the Lahore Arts Council (LAC) conducted and managed the event.

On lush green lawns of Alhamra, singers and instrumentalists performed on the stage and cheered up audience for little over an hour. The show was hosted by Naveen Roma, a columnist, former TV anchor and official at Alhamra Art Gallery, The Mall.

Roma has been conducting Alhamra Live since its inception, a few years back.

There was a novel line of performers on Thursday and some of them were outstanding.

Haleema Yousaf, a student of Alhamra vocal classes, sang well the famous qawwali of Sanso Ki Mala Peh, followed by Arslan who created magic with his performance on flute. The singer from Alhamra Unplugged, Qasim Yousaf, also had a melodic voice who sang well Mahyia Wey Teray Milnay Nu. Muhammad Azeem, a pre-engineering student from FC College, spellbound the audience by playing guitar and later singing Atif Aslam’s famous number Aadat. The audience responded to his outclass performances with a thunderous round of applause.

Shazia Khan, a young voice in ghazal singing, was also melodious and she sang well. The live orchestra also supported the performing singers.

The show had 80pc young voices mostly from Lahore and Alhamra vocal and instrumental music classes.

The show, however, to many in the audience, had no decorum as the audience and visitors were walking across the stage during performances.

“It’s against the mannerism of performances that people keep crossing through stage,” said Alia Noor, a member of the audience. This moving people on the stage were a disturbance for many but the LAC management seemed least bothered about it.

“They should announce that such movement on the stage is not ethical during performances,” said Fayyaz Ahmed, a man sitting in the audience.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2019