LAHORE – The International Violin Day, like elsewhere in the world, was celebrated in the City on Sunday with enthusiasm and fervour.
A function was held in this regard in the Gulberg area on Sunday. The event was organised by Akhtar Javaid Law Associates in honour of renowned violinist Ghulam Ali Lahooti, who to his credit has the Pakistan’s first violin album ‘The voice of soul’.
Lahooti did his graduation in musicology from the National College of Arts and is running a violin school where students of all age groups learn to play violin.
Lahooti along with the orchestra performed on the occasion presenting tunes of popular soul stirring songs. Other performers on the occasion included singer Jassi Lailpuria and Masroor Fateh Ali Khan. Among the guests of honour were Advisor to Punjab Governor Malik Abdullah and theatre director Madeeha Gauhar.
The International Violin Day is celebrated on the birthday of Igor Stravinsky, who was born in Lomonosov on June 17, 1882, and who died in New York on April 6, 1971. Interestingly, this year the Father’s Day also fell on the same day.
Stravinsky's compositional career was notable for its stylistic diversity. He first achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev and first performed in Paris by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913).
The Rite of Spring, which provoked a riot during its premiere, transformed the way in which subsequent composers thought about rhythmic structure and was largely responsible for Stravinsky's enduring reputation as a musical revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of musical design.