Dear Sarangi Subscribers,
I am pleased to share with you, my performance of Raag Bhopali at the APMC Amateur Music Competition 2009 and my video tribute to Wazir Khan Mosque, Lahore:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-odsGRdDY2Y]
The performance was at Alhamra Hall, the Mall Lahore on Novermber 17, 2009. I sang a khayal composed by Ustad Ghulam Hasan Shaggan in honor of the sufi saint Khwaja Nizam-ud-din Aulia. The video clip highlights images and footage from the amazing Wazir Khan Mosque, Lahore which was built in 1635 A.D. during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan.
Thanks to excellent accompaniment by Ashiq Hussain on the tabla and Nawazish Ali on the harmonium, as well as the prayers and well-wishes of my teachers, friends, and family, the performance was appreciated by the audience and the judges.
I hope that you will enjoy and appreciate the spirit of the performance and overlook its shortcomings.
Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year!
Suhaib Kiani: December 2009
nice suhaib good bhopali its hanif from chitrkar
Sorry to be bit blunt. The person needs to practice a lot. I encourage to have more riyaz. But guidance of a Guru is required. It was quite besura. I hope you will take the comments in right spirit.
Wish you good luck.
Subhash in USA
M hanif: Many Thanks. Really appreciate your comment as you were there at the event.
Subhash: Thanks for your constructive criticism and advice. Indeed, there are some technical flaws in the whole effort and with the supreme standards of sangeet at play on our the Sarangi platform, understandably it is quite impossible to match the purity and perfection that we associate with recordings on this site.
Nevertheless, I do sincerely hope that the spirit and enthusiasm of the performance (and the visuals) would persuade viewers and listeners to overlook and overcome these shortcomings and find a few words of encouragement.
The site manager of sarangi.info himself not taking sarangi for accompaniment! 🙂 Good efforts, Nice visuals.
Suhaib – good effort. It can be nerve racking to be on stage. Please keep practising AND learning. One piece of advice I would give is to always sing with a tanpura.
Thank you Dr. Kashyap and a valid comment 🙂 …. actually this performance was about managing a series of unforseen circumstances. The Annual Music Conference was cancelled owing to security reasons but then the organizers decided to push ahead with just the students and amateurs competition. However, I got word a bit late and owing to my work and family commitments in Rawalpindi/Islamabad it became quite tricky to make it to the event in Lahore with the musicians. As a result, the original plan to have Dr. Taimur accompany on the sarangi could not materialize, but luckily we found Mr. Nawazish to provide harmonium accompaniment at the last minute.
Dear, we will be eager to get you with sarangi in future. Best wishes for the new year.
DEAR SUHAIB
IT WAS A PLEASANT SURPRISE.KEEP IT UP.NOTWITHSTANDING STANDARDS SET BY USTADS,
INITIATING INTO PERFORMANCE BY A LISTENER WHO IS A CORP.PROFESSIONAL AND NO BACKGROUND,IT IS COMMENDABLE. BY THE WAY I ALSO WISH TO RECORD THAT EVEN A BAD PERFORMER IS IN A BETTER POSITION THAN AN ENLIGHTENED LISTENER,TO APPRECIATE
MUSIC.NO HUMAN EFFORT IS PERFECT AT LEAST IN THE BEGINING.
I ALSO WISH TO COMMEND YOU AND DR. TAIMUR FOR RESOTRATION OF SITE.
REGARDS
JAVAID ALI KHAN
If we take the point of view expressed by Javed Ali Saheb to its logical conclusion, then there should be no criticism of professional musicians: who can claim to know music better than they do? Yet YouTube is full of substandard performances by artists who were once good. How and why art degenerates is a question worth investigating. IMO, there is no place for public exhibition of amateur art.Is is fine as an activity amongst friends, but not worthy of public display unless it meets standards one expects from professionals.
A public display is also a reflection on the teachers. If after so many teachers , the result is of low quality, then it is time to look for a sincere teacher.
Contrary to what you have said, I feel there should be MORE platforms for amateurs to ‘learn’ to present their art in front of an audience. Hopefully, the audience will be magnanimous, and appreciates the effort for what it is worth. Most musicians are after all learning music to ultimately present it to an audience.
I disagree with Dr. Azad on one point.
There is definitely a place for public display of amateur art – as long as the performances are advertised as such. There are plenty of festivals and competitions in India of budding musicians. And the overall impact is a net positive. The musicians get exposure and get to play with their peers. There is a sense of community. Often there are senior musicians attending to guide and critique the juniors.