enthusiasts but the loudest applause was heard for the exuberantly rendered fusion piece. Sarfaraz Ahmed on ‘tabla’ and Sarang (Abida Parvin’s son) on ‘tanpura,’ joined the Italian maestro on stage for a short rendering of a western classic which came about after a very short rehearsal. More of the same would have gone down well with the audience as a whole but it was time to wrap up and bring the concert to a close. Regretfully titles of compositions and their composers cannot be given as there was no written programme and announcements that were not clear could not be heard at the rear of the hall.
Guitarist and composer, Carlos Ambrosio began playing the guitar at the age of six. He has toured the world intensively since 1970, giving thousands of concerts around the world and recording recitals for radio and television companies in almost all the countries he visited. Winner of international competitions, he has given conferences, lectures and master classes at the Montclair State College (USA), the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Turku (Finland), the Sibelius Akademie (Helsinky), the Conservatory of Istanbul and the Mimar Sinan Universitesi.
The Bright Star Mobile Library project was initiated by Saeed Malik who, on seeing the dismal state of education in the country, felt that books were the way to broaden children’s minds; to introduce them to different subjects and to help build tolerance for others. Discovering that virtually none of the public schools in and around Islamabad had libraries, he decided to take books to the children. He then called in some contacts to help get the project going. The U.N. World Food Programme donated the two vans; Pakistan’s National Library, the Asia Foundation and the San Francisco Public Library donated the books.
Like for most nonprofit organisations, funding is fragile. The project runs on a shoestring budget, relying on donations and volunteers. At the moment, BSML reaches about 5000 children and growing. A permanent reading room is also on the cards.