Sarangi, a music initiative launched amid fanfare

Islamabad

A star-studded evening hosted at the Serena Hotel here to launch Sarangi, a music initiative, and name the winners of a photography and music competition.

Both were part of the hotel’s Cultural Diplomacy Initiative meant to protect and promote the cultural heritage of Pakistan and encourage young talents by providing them with a platform through which their efforts can reach a broader audience.

CEO of the Serena Hotels Aziz Boolani said the Serena continued to promote the arts and intercultural activities to inspire a culture of peace and hope.

"We truly believe in providing platform to the emerging artists so that they are recognised by a larger audience," he said.

Aziz Boolani said social media was used for the competitions that received tremendous response from all over Pakistan.

"We are here to promote the incredible creative talent that Pakistan possesses,” he said.  Sarangi, a musical initiative, began with an online competition which allowed amateur bands to compete. The three winners out of 50 entries were chosen by the professional jury comprising Ali Noor of Noori Band, music director Nizar Lalani and Sarmad Ghafoor.

The winners of the first Sarangi competition were Sannan Mehboob from Swat, Ahad John & Band from Faisalabad and Gohar Nayab & Band from Faisalabad. The winners received a trophy, certificate and gifts from Serena Hotel and were given the opportunity to perform in the gathering of diplomats, bureaucrats, journalists and music lovers from Islamabad.

The concept behind the photography competition was to give recognition to the emerging architectural photographers of Pakistan.

The judges of the photography competition were Mobeen Ansari, Syed Mehdi Bukhari and Wajahat Malik, who selected Minhaj Ahmad from Karachi as the winner of the 'be The Next Serena Photographer' and Sakina Hassan, also from Karachi, as the runner-up out of 1,200 entries.

The evening concluded with a performance by students of the Leiflarsen Music Centre.

While thanking the Leiflarsen students, the Serena Hotels management announced it would contribute to their learning of music.