Napa’s online jazz course concludes

Karachi
Certificates were distributed on Monday among the participants of a five-week online course in jazz improvisation with Prof Gary Burton, facilitated by Ustad Nafees Khan at the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa), held in collaboration with the US Department of State and the University of Texas at Austin.
Those who received the certificates were facilitator Nafees Ahmed (sitar), Muhammad Ahsan Shabbir (vocals), Arsalan Pervaiz (guitar), Zawar Ahmed (guitar), Julian Qaiser (piano) and Hafi Mustafa (vocals).
Omar Jameel, a member of the faculty and a piano instructor, welcomed the five-week online course and said: “We’d all like to see this happen over and over again.” He lauded the cultural links between Pakistan and the US. Julian Qaiser, who received a certificate for proficiency in piano, said he would like to see the course conducted again.
Another participant termed the course an excellent experience and said such courses should be held more frequently.
Liping Lo, cultural affairs officer at the US Consulate General, praised the course and said the US Department of State hoped to do more such courses with other universities in the US. “Hopefully, we’ll have a larger number of participants for the next course.” — Anil Datta