The 29th Annual Indian Music & Dance Competition Promises To Entrall Audiences

Nov. 5, 2012 - PRLog -- Appreciation for Indian Music has grown steadily in this country since its introduction in the 1960’s by such artists as Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. American audiences have always admired the combination of improvisation and classical discipline which are the basis of Indian art.
The Academy of Indian Music and Fine Arts (AIMFA) was established by Ustad Hamid Hossain to actively promote the growth and appreciation of classical Indian music and dance in the United States.

For twenty nine years, the Academy Of Indian Music and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County have brought some of the finest talents in Indian Music and Dance together for a weekend filled with music and joy. Music students as nearby as Catonsville and as far away as Florida are coming together, sharing with you the wonders and beauty of classical vocal, instrumental music and dance from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

This year the competition reaches its 29th year, a landmark by any standards on a single event being continued for so many years.  The competition features the dominant North Indian and South Indian classical forms as well as popular bollywood dances, and songs.  The events start on Saturday, November 24, 2012 at 9am and continues to 11pm.  On Sunday, the events start at 9am and ends with the awards ceremony around 7pm.

This year the Inaugural concert features professional renowned musicians from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.  Sitar player, Shakir Khan (India) the son of famed sitarist Ustad Shahid Parvez will be playing for the opening night.  He will be accompanied on the tabla by Enayet Hossain (Bangladesh), a well known accompanist of top musicians of Indian classical music.  The second artist to take the stage for the opening concert for the competition is famed vocalist Salamat Ali (Pakistan), an accomplished vocalist who will present Ghazal, a popular genre of Urdu poetry which is sung and is heavily influenced with Indian classical music.  Accompanying him for the evening will be Saleiman Azizi (Afghanistan) who will be playing the tabla and Humayoon Popal (Afghanistan) who will be playing the harmonium.  

The competition has been promoting and propagating the rich heritage of South East Asia for the last 29 years.  This year promises to bring a lot of joy to many people.  Through music the even brings forth people of varying races, religions, nationality who set aside politics and greviences.