As the Dhaka International Folk Festival is in full swing, singers from home and abroad will set the stage ablaze with their glowing performances at the Army Stadium today as well.
Orchestrating mind-blowing performances from globally renowned musicians every day, the extravaganza will surely quench the thirst of music lovers.
Here’s a brief introduction of the selected artistes who will be performing today.
Bari Siddiqui
Bari Siddiqui, a singer-songwriter, flutist and folk musician, who was trained on folk and classical music by mentors like Gopal Dutta and Ustad Aminur Rahman. Although he started his musical career back in 1981, he received wide recognition for singing in Shrabon Megher Din in 2000.
Siddiqui went to Pune and got professional tutelage under Pandit VG Karnad. For many years to come, being in an environment surrounded by musical maestros, he kept moving forth with his search for his own true self, achieving newer heights.
Arnob & Friends
One of the most popular faces of live music in Bangladesh, Shayan Chowdhury Arnob made a highly successful tour across Washington DC, Texas, New York, Toronto and London back in 2007 and 2008 with his fellow musician friends including Nazia, Andrew Morris, Resalat, Nazrul and Jibon. The outcome of the tour is a live album Arnob and Friends Live.
Since then the singer along with his fellow musician friends render folk numbers in gigs under the Arnob & Friends band name.
Nooran Sisters
The Nooran Sisters hail from Punjab, India. The sisters are musicians that are very rooted in their linguistic and musical traditions. Their grandmother Bibi Nooran was a well known singer of her time, and now the sisters follow in her footsteps.
As Jyoti and Sultana Nooran come from a family of musicians, the girls have been trained in the field of traditional sufi music by their father Ustad Gulshan Mir.
Paban Das Baul
The rich and melodic musical tradition of India’s Bengali region is given a modern sensibility by Paban Das Baul, a master of the dubki (a small tambourine) and a hypnotic vocalist. Synthesising Tantric Buddhism, Baishnavism and Sufism, Das Baul has created worldwide attention for his trance-inspiring performances.
Momtaz Begum
Folk-queen Momtaz Begum has been considered one of the most popular folk musicians of her time, especially to the rural audience. Moreover, her unconventional lyrics have hooked many listeners to her songs and the folk genre in general.
During her international career which has spanned two decades, she has recorded around 700 albums.