Search for new talent

Not many singing voices have been discovered in Pakistan in the recent past with the result that our musical scene now looks much deficient and wanting as not being able to satiate the thirst of music lovers, and meet the needs of entertainment industry in the country.
At the dawn of Independence in August 1947 Pakistan inherited a large number of seasoned musicians both in the vocal and instrumental categories in the domains of classical, folk, ghazal and film songs who, despite not too encouraging social and economic environment then prevailing in the nascent State, continued to provide plenty of entertainment to the people.
In the classical category, we were lucky to have maestros of the renown of Ustads Ashiq Ali khan, Akhter Husain Khan. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Chhotey Ghulam Ali Khan, Raushan Ara Begum, Inayatbai Dheroowali, Shamshad Kausar, Zahida Parveen and Waheeda Khanum, to name a few, who carried forward the glorious traditions of art music with determination, single-minded devotion and almost with a missionary zeal.
They were succeeded by the second generation of practitioners of vocal classical arts, who kept the flag of gharana traditions fluttering. Included among them were such world class vocalists as Amanat Ali Khan, Fateh Ali Khan, Nazakat Ali Khan and Salamat Ali Khan, who assiduously tried to put Pakistan on the musical map of the world.
Among top-ranking ghazal singers, who reigned supreme at the time of partition in the sub-continent were Ustad Barkat Ali Khan, Ijaz Husain Hazarvi and Mukhtar Begum who were succeeded by Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali, Farida Khanum and Iqbal Bano.
Those artistes who made names as playback singers soon after the creation of Pakistan included Munawwar Sultana, Zubaida Khanum, Naseem Begum, Saleem Raza, Munir Hussain, Masud Rana, Mahnaz and Noor Jehan.
This category of music has suffered as hardly any successor of these stalwarts could attain the heights in popularity as did their predecessors with the result that the art of playback singing in Pakistan has cloyed so much that Pakistani composers now go to Mumbai to record their songs in the voices of frontline Indian playback singers.
The melodic resources of Pakistan, especially in the vocal varieties, have depleted, especially during the last three decades because old nurseries like baithaks and takias, which groomed talent have almost vanished from our cultural ethos.
Their substitutes like Arts Councils, All Pakistan Music Conference, the Lahore Arts Forum and a few other art promoting organisations have singularly failed in filling the gap created by the demises of senior musicians.
Consequently, one we can hardly find an artiste of the caliber of his seniors. Other institutions that helped in the grooming of up-and-coming vocalists in the country, were Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television, which in the beginning did contribute to the flowering of fresh musical talent in the country, gradually frittered away their resources and energies primarily due to a shift in their policies which put music, especially the classical varieties, at the lowest rung in the ladder of their priorities.
It was the lack of institutional support that caused depletion on a large scale in the melodic resources of Pakistan and unfortunately there seems to be no signs of hope that the situation will be remedied in the near future.
The recent introduction of music courses at the National College of Arts and the Fine Arts Department of the University of the Punjab, Lahore has not helped much as it will take quite some time to establish their credentials.
Even a large number of gharana musicians have abandoned their ancestral profession and have opted for alien varieties of pop and disco music, which fetch them good monetary returns.
It is in this bleak scenario that one witnesses though on a rare occasion the silver lining in the otherwise dark horizon when a public-spirited individual or cultural and art promoting organisation venture into the domain of hunting and grooming new musical talent.
The Voice of Pakistan, a non-government organisation, which has recently emerged on Lahore's cultural scene with the aim of hunting and encouraging new music talent so that then widening chasm between "supply and demand" can be bridged, is reported to have sponsored a competition at the Lahore Arts Council Cultural Complex.
Seventeen contestants were adjudged suitable for participation in a series of music programmes that will be telecast by a private TV channel in the near future.
About 500 musical aspirants from different towns and cities of Punjab took part in the musical contest out of which 17 were selected by a jury comprising several celebrities from the world of entertainment. The NGO is reported to have also announced cash prizes for the first, second and third categories of winners in the music contest.
This is a very welcome development that has been appreciated by music loving vivacious citizens of Lahore and which augurs well for the promotion of vocal music of the light varieties. The successful participants will hopefully contribute to the art of playback singing in the country.