Lok Virsa organises reference to pay tribute to legendary artists

Islamabad
The National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) organised a reference to pay tribute to the legendary artists who have recently lost their lives leaving a vacuum in art industry.
Pakistan has lost two of its exponents in the field of classical music in the last few months. They include the great Sarangi players Ustad Allah Rakha Khan (1932-2015) and the renowned classical singer from Gwalior Gharana Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shagan (1928-2015).
The event organised in the memory of these artists included a short documentary film about Ustad Allah Rakha produced by Awais Afzal was also shown on the occasion.
Classical artists and musicians who took part in the reference by rendering their performances were Taimur Khan, pupil of Ustad Allah Rakha, Zohaib Hassan from Lahore, who belongs to the family of Sarangi players and Mazhar Hassan Shagan, son of Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shagan. The accompanying musicians were Sarfraz Anwar and Muhammad Ajmal on Tabla.
A large number of people, specially music lovers from the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, students and families attended the reference and enjoyed the performances given by the artists.
Talking to media, Lok Virsa’s Executive Director Dr. Fouzia Saeed said “we have lost two great masters who left a vacuum in our classical music.
We need to pay attention so that Sarangi playing is transferred to our younger generation”.
“Lok Virsa supports folk and all forms of traditional and classical music that are threatened to vanish due to modern onslaught and lack of due patronage with a view to ensure their revival and continuance,” she added.