Daily Times

LAHORE: The fourth edition of the Lahore Music Meet (LMM) was held at Alhamra Art Centre in Lahore on Saturday and Sunday.

The two-day event was dedicated to the celebration and critique of music in Pakistan and was headlined by leading Indie folk-rock band Sikandar Ka Mandar, Balochi folk artist Akhtar Channal, Pakistan’s qawwali maestros Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammad, progressive metal band Takatak and Pepsi Battle Of The Bands winner Kashmir with jam packed performances and standing ovations.

LMM aimed to bring together enthusiasts, artisans, artists, patrons, industry representatives and academics to initiate dialogue on the developments in music and their shortcomings. The LMM team, consisting of founders Natasha Noorani and Zahra Paracha set up a series of seminars featuring a variety of discussions on music and relevant topics such as Violin Masterclass & Dastangoi, Synth Masterclass – The Analogue Aesthetic in a Digital World, Depth of Field – Capturing Moment’s in Music, Shaping Soundscapes along with workshops, masterclasses and storytelling sessions with renowned musicians. Sessions featured Attaullah Esakhelvi, Saeen Zahoor, Khalid Malik, Mobeen Ansari, Mandana Zaidi, Sanwal Esakhelvi, Shahzad Noor, Amr Kashmiri and Javed Iqbal among many others.

The two-day event was open to the general public with no cost of admission and also featured live outdoor music performances by various artists from across the country such as Mauj, Roots, Wisdom Salad, Zohaib Bilal, Alien Panda Jury, Sameen Qasim & Co, Sunny Khan Durrani, Bayaan, Sami Amiri, Fazal Jatt, Bushra Marvi, Shorbanoor and Kashmir

The two-day event was open to the general public with no cost of admission and also featured live outdoor music performances by various artists from across the country such as Mauj, Roots, Wisdom Salad, Zohaib Bilal, Alien Panda Jury, Sameen Qasim & Co, Sunny Khan Durrani, Bayaan, Sami Amiri, Fazal Jatt, Bushra Marvi, Shorbanoor and Kashmir.

LMM is an organisation that has been established this year to provide a platform for all activities pertaining to music performance, enterprise, education and academia to take place with the ultimate goal of encouraging talents and fostering relationships between individuals within the music fraternity. By providing such a platform, LMM hopes to revitalise the reputation and perception of music within the country and abroad.

The writer is a freelance journalist. He can be reached at hamidjahan@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, January 10^th 2018.