Pakistan's first music mentorship programme under way in Karachi

With a serious dearth of new talent producing original music in Pakistan, one man has decided to change it once and for all. The music mentorship programme in Karachi is offering young people the opportunity to be trained by Pakistan's best musicians. 

The man behind the project, ‘I am Karachi Music Mentorship Program,’ is composer and guitarist Shallum Asher Xavier.

Xavier, who has been recording professionally since over a decade in Pakistan, is certain the mentorship programme will give the city’s youngsters and adults alike, the right mix of guidance to thrive in their music careers.  

“We want to help individuals who are talented,” he tells Geo.TV, “and give them the exposure and a platform. This will eventually give rise to a fresh pool of talented young artist.”

The first batch consists of 15 students, selected through a series of talent hunt programmes launched across the city. “These talent hunts were held at various educational institutes in Karachi. We made sure to reach out to the underserved and neglected communities,” he adds.

Not only are the eight boys and seven girls from different backgrounds but they also have divergent interests including beatboxing and playing the tabla.

A total of 300 candidates applied for the programme. Those selected were handpicked by a panel of judges, including Fuzon’s lead singer Khurram Iqbal, renowned musician and Fuzon band member Imran Momina aka Emu, Ustad Hameed Ali Khan, vocalist Nazia Zuberi, and Xavier himself.  

During the six-month workshop, the boys and girls will be mentored by Khurram Iqbal, Nazia Zuberi, tabla player Razaq Nawaz, a teacher at the National Academy of Preforming Arts Nigel Bobby, and jazz pianist John Saville.

“The course covers everything from music history to writing and understanding chordal structures,” says Xavier. “It is very important for us to make sure that these students know how to read and write music by the end of this programme.”

To keep the mentees motivated, celebrity workshops have also been incorporated into the curriculum.  

At the end of the programme, original compositions will be produced for the mentees, including possible collaborations with Fuzon and Zoe Viccaji.

#Pakistan's first #Music #MentorshipProgram in #Karachi is such an awesome initiative pic.twitter.com/2hCNe26GrY

— Ovais Jafar (@ovaisjafar) April 23, 2017