5-day music festival of DD Kashir concludes,promote new talent of state on global canvass:Farooq

 Stating that the state of Jammu and Kashmir is the fountain head of rich culture and civilization, former Chief Minister and President National Conference (NC) Dr Farooq Abdulla has said that art and music are the flag bearers of the state and efforts are to be made to showcase the budding talent of the state on global canvass.

Speaking on the concluding day of the 5-day live music festival Jugalbandi organized by DD Kashir at Abhinav Theatre in Jammu, Dr Farooq who was Chief Guest of the occasion said "The state of Jammu and Kashmir has always been on the forefront when it comes to music and culture and art is here to stay. However there is a need to hunt for the new talent as the old ones are diminishing and it is the responsibility of Doordarshan, AIR and Cultural Academy to polish the talent of new comers and shape their career which would strengthen the foundations of art and culture for our future generations."

While congratulating, DD Kashir and Director DDK Srinagar Rafeeq Masoodi for organizing the 5-day live music festival, he said "During this festival DD Kashir has touched the hearts and minds of people across the world and has brought to fore the talent of artists who went unnoticed at their respective places by showcasing their art on a global canvass through live music festival."

Maintaining that the festival underscored a peculiar trait of art and artists, Abdullah said "There was a strange thing which was observed today. There were participants from Jammu who performed on Kashmiri songs and vice-versa. Besides some young students from Ladakh performed on traditional Ladakhi folk song which shows that music knows no language, religion and age bar. It also illustrates that our art is in safe hands."

Earlier the concluding day of the festival started with a mixed cultural dance item choreographed by Rakesh Kona depicting the rich blended culture of the state of Jammu and Kashmir including Ladakh.

The dance item was followed by Kashmiri Sufiyan Mousique by Mohammad Yaqoob Sheikh and his group which was followed by a Ghazal by renowned singer Shyam Sajan.

The verses of legendary poets which includes the likes of Niyam Sab, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Mehjoor and Abdul Ahad Azad were brought to life by ace singers of Chakri and Sufi music and Ghazal by Rashid Farash, Suraj Singh and Ghulam Nabi Bulbul.

The star attraction of the evening was Ghulam Nabi Bulbul who presented a Kashmir Chakri penned by Mehjoor and other by Abdul Ahad Azad.

Bulbul fascinated the audience with his captivating performance in his unique enticing style making the audience sing with him in chorus with few also dancing on the strings of Rabab.

A group of upcoming singers from Gujjar hostel Jammu presented a Gojri song composed by Bashir Mastana.

A display of graceful and invective choreography was demonstrated by Rakesh Kona, Randeer Kumar, Pandit Narayan and students of Ladakh Dramatic Organization.

A Dogri dance by Jyoti Bargotra and Nikhal Roy "Onda Wada Ha" choreographed by Pandit Narayan was critically acclaimed by the audience.

Other singers who performed during the evening included Vijay Malla, Zulaikha, Jeewan Sharma, Shazia Hamid and Raja Bilal.

On the concluding ceremony of the 5-day live music festival Jugalbandi, Director DDK Srinagar Dr Rafeeq Masoodi said "We are thankful to the audience of Jammu and to all our viewers across the 150 countries of the world who made this festival a huge success and we assure them that we will be soon back with a new bouquet of art and music in the second leg of Jugalbandi part II."

Besides other dignitaries Chairman State Vigilance Organisation PS Gill, Political advisor to Chief Minister Devender Singh Rana, Secretary cultural academy and MLA Poonch Ajaz Khan were also present on the occasion.