Zubair Qureshi
The Caretaker Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture Syed Jamal Shah on Monday inaugurated the National Music Academy (NMA) at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA).
Federal Secretary National Heritage and Culture Division, Humaira Ahmed, Director General PNCA Muhammad Ayoub Jamali, Pakistan’s first Opera Singer Saira Peter, Music Director Stephen Smith, Zafar Francis, Chairman Sir Syed Memorial Society Syed Ahmed Masood, PNCA Board Member Hasan Raza, musicians and vocalist were also present on the occasion.
While addressing the ceremony, the minister highlighted the importance of the National Music Academy saying it was very important to establish musical institutions for youth and the National Music Academy was specially created for them. He said that the PNCA was the hub for the promotion of art and culture in the federal capital.
Establishment of the academy at the PNCA was an initiative of the National Heritage and Culture Division that would usher a new era of music industry in the country. He said that a National Dance Academy would also be established at PNCA soon.
In her brief remarks, Opera Singer Saira Peter said music was both art and science and it was her passion since childhood.
Besides, it is her science background, knowledge of different communities as well as the multicultural society she grew up in that gave her a deeper understanding of Sufism and helped her find her voice, her niche – the Sufi Opera. She also performed and sang songs at the academy inauguration ceremony and got big applause from the participants.
The faculty for the newly established Academy would be comprised of Opera Singer Saira Peter as Honorary Director, Abida Perveen, Humaira Channa, Stephen Smith, Nadir Abbas, Shehbaz Ali, M.Aslam Violin, Javed Niazi, Babar Niazi, Shafqat Salamat Al, Salamat Ali and Raees Ahmed.
While the Friends of NMA would be Jamal Shah, Zafar Francis, Syed Ahmed Masood, Member Hasan Raza and Amna Shah.
