KARACHI: The National Academy of Performing Arts’ (Napa) International Performing Arts Festival 2020 began on Thursday evening with a collaborative performance between the academy’s music department and UK-based artists Ustad Shahbaz Hussain and Zayn Mohammad.

Prior to the show, Hassan Khan of Qalandar Arts which has brought the two artists from London addressed the audience. He touched upon the narratives that he had heard in the UK, the importance of Sufi music and its message that “transcends everything … it unites us more than divides,” he pointed out adding that the collaboration on Thursday, as he discussed earlier the idea with Napa’s Nafees Ahmad, was about building a narrative. So the performance was a result of that discussion bringing together Napa, Ustad Shahbaz Hussain (tabla), his student Junaid Ali and, what he called, an enigma of an artist, Zayn Mohammad who graduated in music from the US.

The speech was followed by arrival on stage of the main artists along with the academy’s (music) students. It was Zayn who began proceedings with the beautiful chant of the kalima. Ustad Shahbaz Hussain then flexed his vocal muscles and recited the qaul, ‘Mann kunto Maula’. It was so nice to hear him sing, because while his tabla playing is known to music lovers, his singing remains a hidden talent.

The young student of the ustad then displayed his skills on the tabla in a solo bit, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience.

After that, all those who were present on stage played a lovely composition, termed experimental by Nafees Ahmad when he introduced it, of Raga Pilu. All the instrumentalists first created the mood of the raga and when it was the turn of the academy’s young singers to sing the sargam part of the composition, a delightful colour was added to it, making the mirthfulness associated with the raga more evident.

Once the Pilu presentation ended, all of Napa’s members left the stage for Ustad Shahbaz and Zayn Mohammad to take over. Zayn’s guitar and the ustad’s tabla playing were right out of the top drawer. It showed their mastery over how rhythm patterns and melody structures can sound like elaborate symphonies if they’re played with heart and soul.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2020