Music Meet, the powerhouse team behind Pakistan’s First Ever Music Symposium, staged the second edition of The Lahore Music Meet [#LMM16] at Alhamra Art Center in Lahore on the 2nd and 3rd of April 2016. The two-day event was dedicated to the celebration and critique of music in Pakistan and was headlined by Pakistan’s leading folk musician Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi, pop sensation Ali Zafar, classical folk singer Mai Dhai, contemporary Fusion Orchestra Sounds Of Kolachi and indie-rock band Red Blood Cat.
Indeed, LMM16 aims to bring together enthusiasts, artisans, artists, patrons, industry representatives and academics to initiate dialogue on the developments in music and their shortcomings. The Lahore Music Meet team, consisting of founders Natasha Noorani and Zahra Paracha and creative director Ayesha Haroon set up a series of seminars featuring a variety of discussions on music and relevant topics such as; ‘Scoring for the Big Screen: Soundtracks and Music in Pakistani Cinema’; ‘Evolution of Music Videos in Pakistan’; ‘Band Dynamics’; ‘Learning to See Music’; ‘Sound Therapy’; ‘(In)corporating Music’; ‘The Dissemination of Music in the Digital Age’ and ‘Locating our Heritage: Traditional Folk Music in Pakistan’ along with workshops and storytelling sessions with renowned musicians. Sessions featured Ali Zafar, Ali Sethi, Ahsan Bari, Tina Sani, Meekal Hassan, Ali Noor and Ali Hamza of Noori, Sikander Mufti, Mooroo, Shahzad Noor, Naseer & Shahab, Zoe Viccaji, Jamal Rahman, Arieb Azhar, Haroon, Ravail Sattar, Ali Gul Pir, Rachel Viccaji, Sara Haider, Zohaib Kazi, Aisha Linea Akhtar and Umnia Iftikhar 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; Afraz Anjum, Mooroo, Shahzad Noor of Shorbanoor, Aaishay Haque, Zoe Viccaji, Takatak, Sikandar Ka Mandar, Keeray Makoray, Naseer & Shahab, Quadrum, Natasha Beyg, Ali Suhail, Tollcrane, Shamoon Ismail, Xarb, Bayaan and Sameen Qasim to name a few.
Lahore Music Meet is an organization 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 revitalize the reputation and perception of music within the country and abroad. The two-day event was supported by EMI Pakistan as the official festival partner, Careem as the official transport partner, Millat Tractors Limited as an associate partner, Alhamra Arts Council as the hospitality partner, CityFM89 as the official radio partners and Lotus Client Management & Public Relations as the official communications and PR partners.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: IMAN & NADIR
