'Music touches upon the intangible that moves soul deeply'

Islamabad

Music touches upon the intangible that moves our soul in very deep and meaningful ways. From that point of view, it is one of the best expressions for the kind of understanding that has prevailed between the people of Argentina and Pakistan since 1947 onwards.

This was stated by Argentinean Ambassador Ivan Ivanissevich at the concert of maestro Lautaro Tissera and Richie and the Leo Tiwns at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts here.

“Back in October we started celebrating 65 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Argentina and Pakistan. Then we envisaged having Argentine musicians involved, but unforseen reasons prevented us from doing so.

Today we are coming to the end of those celebrations and, finally, we are making good our promise, and we are having Maestro Lautaro Tissera here with us, playing Argentine music: tangos, and music from the Provinces of the Argentina’s inland, the ambassador told the audience.

He thanked the authorities and workers of the PNCA saying without their commitment, the event would not have been possible.

The ambassador expressed special gratitude to Brazilian diplomat and musician Jean-Pierre Bianchi for showing up and said the guest had fallen in love with Buenos Aires and Argentina in general.

Earlier, Huma Ahmad, chief of hearings at the Argentinean Embassy, said guitarist Lautaro Tissera specialised in tango and Argentine music in general and performed regularly in Argentina and abroad, be it as soloist or as a member of the “Tissera-Tolomeo” duo and the “El Mondongo de Palermo” quartet.

“Mr Lautaro Tissera has also performed as an invited guitarist of the world famous ‘Sexteto Mayor’ and is the Director and responsible for arrangements of the well-known Argentine typical tango orchestra ‘La Sacada.’ Tissera has recorded several CDs as soloist and together with the ‘La Sacada’ orchestra. He tours regularly in Latin America and Europe. He will conduct a workshop and a concert at the National College of Arts Lahore,” she said.

Huma Ahmad said Richie and the Leo Twins came into existence when three like-minded musicians got together some years ago.

“Their energy and musical chemistry resulted in various shows and gigs across the country, the most prominent out of them being the acclaimed television show Nescafe Basement which gave them the identity that they enjoy today. Their versatile musical skills and diversity of music gave them the opportunity to perform at the 10th International Music Festival Sharq Taronalari held in Samarqand, Uzbekistan in 2015, where they performed with numerous musicians from across the world,” she said.

She added that the two had also widely performed with many foreign musicians in Islamabad, and their experience in East-West fusion music was quite remarkable.