A treat for music aficionados

A fusion genre is a music genre which combines two or more genres and it is a popular form of music these days. To give music aficionados a treat, the Ambassador of Austria, Brigitta Blaha, organised a concert featuring Austrian saxophonist and clarinet play Renald Deppe, with Ustad Raees Ahmed on the violin and Ustad Ajmal Khan on the tabla.
The event was held at the auditorium of the German Embassy and was well attended despite the rain and chill in the air — nothing like music to make you forget both unseasonable phases of the weather!
After a short delay the concert began by Ambassador Blaha thanking the invitees for coming despite the weather; German Ambassador Cristoph Nunn for the use of the auditorium and the cultural team of the German Embassy headed by Dan Tiden for their help and support. She then introduced the musicians and spoke of further cultural exchanges between Austria and Pakistan before requesting the audience to switch off their mobile phones.
The concert began with gypsy music played by all three musicians, followed by an American jazz composition; a recital of ‘raag malkaus’ by our maestros and other classical music both eastern, including a number under the title of ‘contemporary’ music which involved all three musicians but focused on a different use of the saxophone and best of all, a beautiful piece by Mozart. I have to say the different beats of the tabla were definitely a good addition. Renald Deppe also gave short demonstrations of ‘music’ from different parts of the clarinet, while his contemporary stint on the saxophone was interesting, to say the least and very different from what we old timers call music! For some of us who were talking to the musicians after refreshments were served, the impromptu playing of a few jazzy numbers by all three of them was the icing on the cake, so to say and added to the enjoyment of the evening!
Renald Deppe studied clarinet and composition at the Folkwang University in Essen and received his further musical education in Berlin and at the University of Music and the Performing Arts, Vienna. He has played the saxophone and clarinet in ensembles for classical, contemporary and improvised music. He is the founder and the artistic director of several festivals and cultural initiatives. Parallel to his work as promoter, curator and concept designer of music projects, aside from a mainstream catering to listening habits, he has made himself a name as a composer of several commissions. His work focuses on chamber music, music theatre, graphic-sheet music, interdisciplinary project design, installations and sound graphics. A few days ago he played at the opening of the new consulate in Karachi, so after the concert he spoke about his first, short trip to the city many years ago. “It was in 1973. I was traveling to Athens and we landed in Karachi for a short stopover,” he said. “There were no big airports in the Middle East and Karachi served as the stopover destination for big airlines.” He went on to say he loved Karachi for its diversity; that both the city and Pakistan were beautiful and he hoped to return soon.