Continuing its tradition of celebrating diverse mediums of artistic expression, the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) has begun the International Music Festival 2014, which will go on till December 7. With musicians from the United States, Italy and Germany and local artistes, the festival aims at using music to bridge the cultural gap that has long prevailed between the East adn West.
The first day of the festival, dated December 4, saw performances by Germany’s Leipzig String Quartet. It opened with a brief yet powerful performance by Napa faculty member Intezar Hussain, who played the Raag Malkaun in collaboration with Leipzig String Quartet andtabla player Waqas Ghulab.
The German classical string concert features Stefan Arzbeger (first violin), Tilman Buening (second violin), Ivo Bauer (viola) and Matthias Moos Village (cello). The group, which arrived in Karachi the same morning, did not get sufficient time to rehearse their performances, most notably their collaborations including the students and faculty members of Napa.
“The beauty of music as a form of art was on display today. Music is very spontaneous,” said Dr Manuel Negwer, the director of Goethe-Institute Pakistan. He lauded the String Quartet and Napa students and faculty members for putting up a brilliant show despite the time restraints. “It is remarkable how they delivered such a great performance despite having very little time to rehearse with each other.
The highlight of the event was the closing performance, which featured Ustad Nafees Ahmed on sitar, Ghulab on tabla, the Leipzig String Quartet, and students of Napa’s school of music. The performance, which was a composition by Napa faculty member Nafees Ahmed, was aptly titled Musica Senza Confini, which is Italian for ‘music without borders’.
