Tehzeeb Festival at Napa features Raag Bihag, solo tabla on last day

The second and last day of the Tehzeeb Festival at the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) on Sunday featured a rendition of Raag Bihag by Aizaz Sohail, 35, who enthralled the audience.

The performer explained that Bihag is a raag particularly sung after sunset. “The raag is very honey-laden,” he said, adding that it evoked the feelings of love and care. The Tehzeeb Foundation of Pakistan hosted the two-day festival in collaboration with Napa. The festival had kicked off at the academy’s Zia Mohyeddin Auditorium on Saturday.

It featured South Asian classical, semi-classical, ghazal and folk music rendered by eminent artistes. The 13th edition of the festival brought some of the best South Asian music and creativity. Since 2008, the Tehzeeb Foundation and Napa have held 12 festivals, several music concerts, art exhibitions and literary sessions to develop, promote and present the cultural ethos of the South Asian lands and their people.

Sohail started off his career with his mother. In Karachi, renowned singer Tina Sani trained him. Then he moved to Lahore and received a degree in engineering. In Lahore, Ustad Abdul Raoof trained him. Later, he got guidance virtually from India by receiving lessons from Pandit Ajoy Chakraborti.

Another performance on the last day was by Ustad Shahbaz Hussain who played the solo tabla and enthralled the audience. Ustad Mumtaz Ali Sabzal’s raag and Balochi folk music turned out to be mesmerising for the music lovers.

A day earlier, thirteen-year-old Izzat Fateh Ali Khan from Hyderabad played a mesmerising Kalam, and the audience could not get enough of him. He presented Raag Chatarang, which he said had six Surs. He is a student of class nine. Talking to The News, he shared how he had learned the Raag from his family. He said his family history was all about Raag and Sur. His father Ustad Fateh Ali Khan trained him.