Daily Times

LAHORE: Sitar player Ustad Ashraf Sharif Khan, the inheritor of Ustad Sharif Khan Ponchwala’s grand tradition, performed at a cultural evening organised by the Government College University (GCU) in the honour of foreign delegates, who participated in the university’s three-day international conference on ‘Inter-regional Connectivity: South Asia and East Asia’.

The conference was organised by the university’s political science department in collaboration with both provincial and federal higher education commissions.

Eminent singer and old ravian Shafqat Ammant Ali Khan was the chief guest of the culture evening, which was also marked by folk dances and music performances by students of the university’s Nazir Ahmed Music Society.

Besides playing some of most popular raags like darbari, jaijaiwanti and bahiraveen, Ustad Ashraf Sharif Khan also performed a fusion with German rhythmist Victor Marvin, a virtuoso on electronic music instruments.

The fusion and sitar performance met with loud applause especially by the Chinese delegation, which found sitar resonating with their traditional Chinese music played by Chinese Zither or Chinese Guzheng.

“Music connects people; it’s very important for the connectivity even if it’s economic, as we understand the culture, traditions and values of each other,” said China University of Geosciences Professor Xie. “It’s not just roads, pipelines or railways; we need to connect the people through the Pakistan China Economic Corridor (CPEC).”

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Dr Khalid Manzoor Butt said that sitar is very difficult instrument to play and very few people could attain the level achieved by Ustad Ashraf Sharif Khan, who is regarded among the finest sitar instrumentalists of his generation.

Addressing the foreign delegates, Ustad Ashraf Sharif Khan said that he always tries to use the music and the instrument to capture the feeling locked in his heart and to convey them to the audience and his fans. He said that it is a matter of great pride for him to perform at the historical and prestigious institution like GCU, Lahore.

Shafqat Ammant Ali Khan also paid glowing tribute to Ustad Ashraf Sharif Khan for his contributions to the classical music. He hoped that Khan, though settled in Germany, would visit Pakistan more often and patronage the classical music in the country.

Inamullah Khan, the son of legendary singer Ustad Hamid Ali Khan, also performed at the cultural evening attended by more than 41 foreign delegates beside national scholars and organisers of the conference. Later, the foreign delegates also joined the students in their folk dance performances.