AFD commemorates World Music Day

To celebrate World Music Day, Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD) hosted their annual musical event Fête de la Musique on June 21, 2019 at Dhanmondi. The festival, which was open for all, started at 2:15 pm ended at 10 pm.

The fest began with AFD’s current director Olivier Dintinger’s welcome speech. “This festival was initiated by the French Government in 1982. Every year on June 21, the Fête de la Musique is organised to celebrate the coming back of spring through music,” he said.

After the welcome address, Shekor, a new band, took over the stage to mesmerise the audience with evergreen folk melodies including Milon Hobe Koto Din E and Bonde Maya Lagaise.

Following Shekor, the guitar students of AFD performed a heart-touching guitar instrumental, composed by renowned guitarists from around the world. These performances lead to a guitar workshop, where anyone present and interested was invited to join.

After this session, the AFD Classical music workshop was arranged for group and solo performers, on Tagore’s music with a hint of modern Bangla fusion. This workshop gave way to performances by Asif and Shouro.

Soon, it was time for the violin workshop, which again was open for all, to watch and participate in. After this workshop, a Bangla song was presented by Roshni. Another solo session by rising singer Masha Islam soon began, where she performed mesmerising French and Bangla melodies.

Jaisthho and Friends then entertained the audience with their renditions of French and Bangla songs, which were followed by performances from Mizanuddin Khan and Nahida.

The rest of the evening was dedicated to instrumentals, which started with Seesaw Quartet’s Jazz performance. Purbo-Poshchim, an instrumental band consisting of flute and tabla, performed folk and fusion.

After the instrumentals, the Asian University of Women presented their music in choir. The final performance of the day was a piano recital by AFD students. The evening came to an end with a piano workshop and a vote of thanks by Olivier Dintinger and the AFD family.