ISLAMABAD, Feb 15: At the opening of the Mystic Music Sufi Festival on Friday night, at the National Art Gallery, Akbar Khan Khameso made a compelling argument for the power of his instrument, the alghoza.

Accompanied by supporting musicians on dholak and table, Khameso kept his listeners - including ambassadors and dignitaries - entranced with his command over the double flute.

Members of the audience raised cameras and cellphones to capture his performance, although the soulful, gentle music remained beyond film.

The first night of the festival, dedicated by Usman Peerzada of the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop to the memory of his brother, Faizan, who died in December, offered other fine performances as well.

Krishan Lal Bheel from Cholistan sang a devotional bhajan with a colourful one-stringed aiktara in one hand and small golden snares on his fingers.

Other performers included Akhtar Chinar Zahri from Quetta; Sain Zahoor from Lahore; Shaukat Dholiya from Hafizabad; Zarsanga from Peshawar; and Imran Azeez Qawal from Rawalpindi.

At the end of the evening, spectators watched a documentary about Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop and its contributions to the performing arts.

The festival’s ethos was aptly expressed by Bazm-i-Liqa (Assembly for the vision of the beloved), a society from Gilgit-Baltistan that uses the power of traditional music to attract a new generation to the teachings of Sufi masters.

The group was represented by an assortment of singers, drummers, and rubab and sitar players, all of whom performed with a passion befitting the occasion.