VIDEO: One Project is Successfully Bringing Together Musicians from India, Pakistan and the US

Indian, Pakistani and American musicians come together in the brainchild of US embassy in Karachi and make music together while doing a cultural exchange.

By Surabhi Katyal

July 7, 2015

Music unites. It reaches our souls, dissolves all borders, and spreads joy in every corner it permeates. Watch how the Dosti Music Project is bringing together musicians from India, Pakistan and the US.

The Dosti Music Project, an initiative by the US embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, aims at bringing together a group of amazing musicians from India, Pakistan, and the US for a month-long tour and residency program. Produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation, it involves inviting 4 Indians, 4 Pakistanis and 2 American musicians for some excellent musical and cultural exchange.

With a lot of diversity, the project includes fusion-based work wherein participants collaboratively write, record, and perform original music, re-invent traditional music, and develop initiatives that leave a positive impact on communities, locally and internationally.

The musical traditions of India and Pakistan have always connected, be it with the popularity of Bollywood music or the praise for Pakistani gazals. With a three-week residency in Atlantic Centre for the Arts in Florida and one week of touring and performing in the South-eastern regions of the United States, the project aims at creative, cooperative, and egalitarian cultural exchange between the three participant nations.

The project has had ten participants this past spring and they are Zohaib Hussain, Imran Fida, Bilal Khan, Natasha Humera Ejaz, Mirande Shah, Surajato Roy, Sanaya Ardeshir, Debanjan Bhattacharjee, Aurora Nealand and Tatiana Silver Hargreaves. The participants are provided free room, board and food and are also given a modest stipend.

The applications for the spring of 2016 are open.

Watch this video based on the first set of participants.

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