Wednesday, April 28, 2010
This time they hosted an event organised by The Islamabad Music Society (TIMS) and it turned out to be one of the best of the season. This was not only because of the venue, but because the vocalist featured in the programme was Shaukat Manzoor, a seasoned singer of repute with a great voice.
TIMS members are usually in time because they know the programme will start punctually unless there is an unavoidable delay — the musicians not turning up etc. So it was this evening and after everyone was seated the hostess welcomed the attendees; said she and her husband were very happy to host the occasion and invited them all to stay on for the reception after the concert. This was a bonus for those who attended as delicious — and plenty — snacks were served, including little cheese tarts to die for!
Organiser Karin Mittman introduced the artistes, spoke of the very beautiful ambience that had been created, which would enhance the enjoyment of the music. She said it was a wonderful coincidence that TIMS Sufi music programme was taking place at the same time as other Sufi music programmes, which shows that people are tired of conflict and want peace and harmony in their lives. Adding that it was no wonder the Taliban were banning music and burning music shops — no one with music in his heart and a song on his lips would ever take up a gun to kill someone — she concluded by thanking the hosts for their generosity and hoped everyone would enjoy the concert.
Later she thanked Yasser Noman for managing to get quality artistes in the amount allocated in TIMS budget and presented him with a token of appreciation.
Shaukat began with a ‘bandish’, ‘roop joban da maan na kariaiy’ in rag ‘Bhoop Kalyan’ followed by a ‘kafi’ of Baba Bullhe Shah ‘ki jana mein kaun’ and an Urdu ‘Mahiya’, composed in raga ‘Pahari’, ‘baaghon mein parrey jhoolay’ written by renowned journalist, poet and intellectual, Charagh Hasan Hasrat. After these he sang a ‘ghazal’ by Parveen Shakir; a ‘kheyal’ in rag ‘Darbari’; ‘kafi’ of Khawaja Ghulam Farid; two of Shah Hussain alias Madho Lal Hussain and other compositions. The selection of short and sweet songs was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone because they were not as difficult to understand as pure classical.
Shaukat Manzoor, who sings Punjabi/Saraiki folk to ‘thumri’; ‘kafi’ and ‘ghazal was born in a family of musicians based in Kunjah, Gujrat, Punjab in 1966. He began his career as a child singer and later at the age of 15 came under the tutorship of a scion of Kapurthala School of Music, Ustad Rehmat Ali Khan of Gujrat — a training which continued for the next 15 years.
Shaukat Manzoor also has to his credit the honour of getting lessons from maestro, Ustad Salamat Ali Khan of Sham Chaurasi Gharana. Apart from giving regular performances at different cultural forums in the country for many years, he worked as music teacher at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), Islamabad. In November 2009, under a cultural exchange programme between Lok Virsa and Norway, Shaukat Manzoor visited Oslo where along with Norwegian musicians he gave performances for school children.
In May 2010, in the framework of same cultural exchange programme, he along with the visiting Norwegian musicians is going to give lessons in various schools of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Muhammad Ajmal is one of the most outstanding ‘tabla’ players of Pakistan. He is an accomplished student of Mian Shaukat Hussain, the legendary ‘tabla’ player of Punjab Gharana and recently played in Switzerland to a crowd of 5,000 people.
Picture: The Swiss Embassy, Islamabad . Photo: Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
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