GENEVA: Classical vocalist Ustad Naseeruddin Saami will be among nearly a dozen artists honoured at this year’s Aga Khan Music Awards.

Ustad Saami — who performs alongside his sons Ustad Rauf, Ustad Urooj, Ahmed, and Azeem Saami as the Saami Bros — is widely regarded as Pakistan’s preeminent living classical vocalist.

He is a torchbearer of the Delhi Gharana, and a recipient of the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz and the Pride of Performance.

Ustad Saami will be honoured with the Patron’s Award, alongside Indian Qawwals Naseer and Nazeer Ahmed Khan Warsi, according to an announcement from the organisers.

The dual honour celebrates the remarkable musical lineages of the great poet Amir Khusro, who was instrumental in shaping a large part of the music and cultural history of South Asia.

The awards headline a four-day festival, celebrating music from the ‘Great East’, and will be held in London’s South­bank Centre from Nov 20 to 23, with the awards ceremony being held on Nov 22.

They honour individuals, groups, and institutions whose work sustains and reimagines living musical heritage shaped by Islam while promoting spiritual insight, community vitality, and cultural resilience.

Among this year’s laureates are Bahrain’s Qalali Folk Band; Palestinian oud player and vocalist Kamilya Jubran; and Iranian composer Sahba Aminikia. In addition, Mariam Bagayoko, the 87-year-old Malian musician known as the ‘Nightingale of Bélédougou’, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2025