LAHORE: It was a melodic, dreamy and an all-inspiring evening at the Alhamra Art Centre on Saturday when world renowned Spanish cellist Aldo Mata enthralled a large audience with his art besides a fantastic performance by the local artistes of the Akmal Qadri Band.

The evening was organised by the Lahore Jazz Club and the Lahore Arts Council in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain.

The event unwrapped with some marvelous performance by Akmal Qadri Band. Qadri, a fantastic flute player, has mastered classical and folk music. His band, consisting of his two sons and a tabla player, came up with many fusion pieces playing amazing flute and entertained a jam-packed hall at Alhamra. The music they played together took the audience to a dream-like world. One of the band artistes, a son of Akmal Qadri, also played a composition on Sarod, a rare musical instrument extremely difficult to play. He got generous appreciation from the audience.

The second half of the evening consisted of the performance by legendary Spanish cellist Aldo Mata whose art was in bloom as he spellbound the audience with his instrument. He performed a new piece every time with its own individual magic. The audience tirelessly clapped and appreciated the globally known artiste for his magical performance on the cello. The pieces were vibrant leading to smiling faces and tapping toes. The pieces were incredible in many ways. The stage was simple but majestic with a dim light that contributed to the magical charm to the music.

Aldo Mata had his early studies in Madrid with María de Macedo and Elías Arizcuren, continuing as a student of Ivan Monighetti at the Reina Sofía School and with a master’s degree from the Chicago Musical College under the direction of Kim Scholes and a doctorate with Janós Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at the Indiana University. He studied further in Budapest with Ferenc Rados.

The recipient of various awards and prizes, Mata has served as a cello professor at the Salamanca Superior Conservatory, co-principal with the Symphony Orchestra of Castilla y León, a member of the Granados String Quartet, string quartet professor at Musikene (2009-10), and as a soloist, with performances throughout Europe, China, South America and Spain, participating in major festivals, and playing all the major works for cello and orchestra.

Aldo Mata has held masterclasses in Germany, Portugal, China and Colombia, and is a regular faculty member of the international courses of Madrid (Forum), Llanes, Molinos, Valencia de Don Juan and Presjovem. He plays a cello made in Piacenza in 1787 by Joseph Nadotti.

Razi Ahmed, the chairman of the board of governors (BoG) of the Lahore Arts Council, also attended the concert. He sounded really excited about hosting the Spanish musician and hoped that more such concerts would be organised by the arts council in the coming days.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2024