LAHORE Akmal Qadri is an eminent flautist, who has won the hearts of millions with his brilliant performance of classical and modern music. With his powerful breath control, he makes everything from vigorous, thundering tones to light, birdlike quivers.In conversation with The Nation, he talked about his career and success. Following are the excerpts:When asked how he ventured into music, Akmal Qadri said that I was in 10th class when I picked up Bansuri (flute), as I was immensely captivated by its rich, deeply soothing and meditative sound, and started learning to play it from my father. My childhood was spent listening to a lot of good and diverse music – rich in quality and content.“I gave my first audition to Farhani Sahab who was a flute playing teacher in music society at Government College Lahore. After listening to my music compositions, he refused to select me. I was really disappointed and told my mother I don’t want to pursue this profession. She advised me not to give up. My father was on the 18th grade of Radio Pakistan. I started going to Radio Pakistan and learned music from seniors. Today, I perform in all over the world and represent the positive image of Pakistan as a flute player,” he explained.On why did he choose flute as a profession, Akmal explained, “Flute playing techniques have been passed down in my family for four generations. My inspiration was my father Sain Allah- Ditta Qadri who also used to play Bansuri with great deal of commitment. For years he was a leading flute player in the country playing for his passion at the radio, films and concerts all over the world.”About why women flautists are not seen on stage, he was of the view that the trend of playing flute is getting vanish from mainstream media.“We don’t have platforms to aware youngsters about music owing to which they have lack of knowledge about music. Government should build music schools and hire artistes to guide them about the rich culture of Pakistan,” Akmal stated.“I have recently tried the fusion of eastern and western with my flute and other instruments.”About his achievements, he said, “I have been performing in all Pakistan Music Conferences for the last 16 years. I have performed in Sufi festivals with many artistes as a flute player. I bagged the Best Flute Player Award from Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV). I recently gave the music background of film ‘Ho Mann Jahan’. I have performed in America, England, Norway, Holland, South Africa, India and many more. One thing I would mention is that my documents have been submitted for a long time but I haven’t been given the Pride of Performance Award yet.”About Pakistan music industry, Akmal told this scribe, “Pakistan’s music industry is facing existential crisis today. We don’t have good term with foreign countries right now. Our government has no interest to market their artistes due which culture is getting vanished by the passage of time.”