Fête de la Musique 2020
Join us in celebrating music from Pakistan with these special performances for the Pakistani edition of Fête de la Musique by Haniya Aslam, Durvesh, the Baluch Twins & more.
The first Fête de la Musique, World Music Day, was launched on 21 June 1982 in France and is now celebrated all around the world.
Join us in celebrating music from Pakistan with these special performances for the 2020 edition of Fête de la Musique organized in collaboration with the Alliance Française network of Pakistan.
Haniya Aslam
Haniya is a Pakistani-Canadian musician, composer, producer, and audio engineer. Dubbed a “songwriter extraodinaire”, Haniya’s childhood was filled with diverse musical influences. Her first band, Zeb and Haniya, went on to achieve international recognition with their debut album, Chup. As a composer and producer, Haniya brings together musical styles and genres effortlessly, “blending the sophistication of jazz and blues with eastern mystical Sufi and folk.” Here is Haniya Aslam performing Raaz by Zeb & Haniya.
Here is Haniya Aslam covering Northern Sky by Nick Drake.
Darvesh
Darvesh is a 10-Piece Qawwali Rock band that fuses sounds of east with progressive rock to create world music. A band that sings for love, peace and harmony. Their song Khuda Jaane is a journey of love that talks about finding hope by submitting to love and is dedicated to Fête de la Musique.
BALUCH TWINS
The very talented duo Adil and Asim Baluch popularly known as the Baluch Twins hail from the Lyari neighborhood of Karachi. They are both students of music and filmmaking and have already started making a name in the music scene of Karachi with their highly versatile singing technique. This is a song of love in their native Baluchi language.
Muzamil Hussain & Kashif Ali Dani
Nazar Abbas, Muzamil Hussain & Kashif Ali Dani
Peeya Rey by Nazar Abbas on flute, Muzamil Hussain on guitar and Kashif Ali Dani on tabla
Akmal Qadri, Nazar Abbas, Muzamil Hussain & Kashif Ali Dani
Ik Allah kanomaidardi with Akmal Qadri and Nazar Abbas on flute, Muzamil Hussain on guitar and Kashif Ali Dani on tabla
Arieb Azhar
Reintroducing: Classical Music Without Borders
Classical music aficionados in Karachi are in for a treat. Learn more.
Classical music aficionados in Karachi are in for a treat…
We are pleased to introduce a unique international concert series for Karachi: Classical Music Without Borders. Musicians from around the world will perform national and international classical hits, from Baroque to traditional Japanese music, from Rossini to Gershwin. Karachi listeners will have a unique opportunity to enjoy top string, woodwind and brass players as well as international level opera singers and pianists at the the Alliance Française de Karachi and other venues.
The series first kicked off in 2018 with a traditional Japanese concert by koto player Sumie Kaneko at the Alliance Française de Karachi on 8 October 2018, followed by classical music from France, Germany, Italy, and Russia.
The series is now in its second year with the Trio Zipang from Japan kicking off this season at the Alliance Française de Karachi on 20 November 2019, to be followed by musicians from France, Germany, Italy, and Russia.
This initiative is spearheaded by the Consulate of France in Karachi in partnership with the consulates of Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia, as well as the Alliance Française de Karachi and the Goethe Institut. We thank our sponsors Oman Air, Gerry’s, and PC Hotels.
Updated: 20 Nov 2019
How students and musicians came together for Project Lalala
The 2014 Project Lalala brought together students, professors, technicians, and musicians from France and the Alliance Française network in Pakistan in a unique collaboration to write and perform original songs in French.
Can music—the universal language—help French-language students immerse themselves in their adopted language and promote intercultural exchange? Working with French indie group Studio Nomade, Project Lalala, conceived by Laurent Bordier, the former Deputy Director and Head of Studies at the Alliance Française de Karachi, set out to do exactly that.
The 2014 project brought together students, professors, technicians, and musicians from France and the Alliance Française network in Pakistan to write and perform original songs, creating slam poetry about Karachi in French and melding typically French songs with traditional tabla and sitar arrangements. Requiring all hands on deck, the diverse group worked together in classrooms and studios on everything from writing lyrics to composing music to designing album covers to arranging technical aspects, and of course the singing itself.
Listen to all the tracks from Project Lalala:
Zigzag (AF Karachi)
Lyrics and chorus: Humair Junejo, Farah Ali, Fadia Khan, Khurram Loan, Qutub Mullah, Saima Sarfraz, Munifa Ayub, Jafar Syed Hussain Shah (B1 and B2)
Vocals: Alex Deschamps, Nadeem Sheikh (B1)
Musicians: Ustad Mumtaz Ali Sabzal (tabla), Denis Teste (sitar)
Music: Studio Nomade
Slam Pour K. (AF Karachi)
Lyrics: Henri Souffay
Vocals: Leroy Johns (C1-C2), Dorothée Goxe
Music: Studio Nomade
L’âme soeur (AF Karachi)
Lyrics: Based on ideas from Najeeb ur Rehman (B1)
Vocals: Fareeha Tariq (A1)
Chorus: Muhammad Aman Khan, Areeba Tariq, Shehla Andleeb, Urooj Fatima, Fawzia Hoodboy, Sofia Azeem, Marziye Farriaby, Fahad Zaki Farooqui (A1-B2)
Musicians: Bina Shah (flute), Mohsin Hassan Alvi (guitar), Pierre Pleyber (double bass)
Music: Studio Nomade
Lulu l’hurluberlu (AF Lahore and Karachi)
Lyrics: Multiple anonymous contributions on Etherpad by French students (A1-B1) in AFs Lahore and Karachi on the theme of Dix Mots (Chaine des mots), 2014
Chorus: Tia Ismael, Ali Amer, Hussain Ali Khan, Alisha Khan, Shazeb Lafir Aziz, Huda Adeel, Syed Shah Wali Bokhari, Syed Danial Ali, Azmaray Tamim, Aleeza Wajid, Aleezay Khalid
Vocals: Alex Deschamps (Studio Nomade)
Music: Studio Nomade
Jolie Munifa (AF Karachi)
Lyrics: Isfandyar Ali, Jasim Muhammad Ali, Wasef Syed Ali, Anosha Ashfaq, Hunaiza Ashraf, Khwaja Farouk Mazhar, Mohsin Hassan Alvi, Sameen Khalid, Saima Hassan, Asra Qarni, Areeba Tariq, Fareeha Tariq, Haiya Tirmizi (A1-A2)
Vocals: Nathan Houée
Musician: Pierre Pleyber (double bass)
Music and chorus: Studio Nomade
La shisha enchantée (AF Karachi)
Lyrics: Humair Junejo, Farah Ali, Fadia Khan, Khurram Loan, Qutub Mullah, Saima Sarfraz, Munifa Ayub, Jafar Syed Hussain Shah (B1 and B2)
Vocals: Haiya Tirmizi, Asra Qarni, Khawaja Farouk Mazhar (A1-A2)
Musician: Ustad Mumtaz Ali Sabzal (tablas), Ustad Bashir Khan (bulbul tarang), Ustad Mazhar Umrao Bundu Khan (sarangi), Gulnaz Riaz (traditional song)
Music and chorus: Studio Nomade
Here’s what The Express Tribune had to say about Project Lalala.
Studio Nomade were well-received in Karachi, getting featured on the City FM 89 airwaves and performing in a concert at the Alliance Française de Karachi along with a band from Gilgit, Hunza, and Chitral called Bazm-i-Liqa.
Project Lalala was inspired by Bordier’s earlier stint in the Alliance Française network in China where he had organized a similar musical-linguistic collaboration between students and musicians from 2011 to 2012. Their award-winning initiative Si on Chantait (Let’s Sing), resulted in the distribution of 15,000 CDs of the final work across China.
Want to learn more? Read Bordier’s interview conducted by Corentine Biette of Café du FLE in the original French. Here’s the English translation published on Le Mag AF Pakistan.