High Commission of India

Dhaka 

Press Release 

On the occasion of  the 116th birth anniversary of legendary musician Abbasuddin Ahmed’, IGCC organises a musical evening by Mustafa Zaman Abbasi and Dr. Nashid Kamal at Kobi Sufia Kamal Auditorium, Bangladesh National Museum, Shahbagh, Dhaka at 6.30 PM on 31 October, 2017

​​          On the occasion of the 116th birth anniversary of legendary musician Abbasuddin Ahmed, Indira Gandhi Culture Centre is organising a musical evening  by two generations of artists, his son, scholar-musicologist-writer Mustafa Zaman Abbasi and granddaughterDr. Nashid Kamal. The programme will be held at Kobi Sufia Kamal Auditorium, Bangladesh National Museum, Shahbagh, Dhaka at 6.30 PM on 31 October, 2017. 

Mr. Mustafa Zaman Abbasi is well known in Bangladesh and West Bengal as a singer and writer. A scholar-musician-social worker, he is one of the important names in Bangladesh, authoring fifty books on subjects varying from music, philosophy, biography, travels, to essays and novels. He was Chairman of National Committee on Music for eleven years, Director General, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, and District Governor of Rotary International.  Presently, he is Senior Research Scholar, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Abbasuddin Ahmed Research & Study Centre, Independent University Bangladesh. 

A post graduate in History, he got early training in Indian Classical Music from Ustad Muhammad Hussain Khasru, Ustad Gul Mohammad Khan and others. Mustafa Zaman Abbasi is a popular singer of Bangladesh Television, performing and lecturing on Music and Sufism. He has performed in India, Japan, Australia, China, Korea, Myanmar, UK, USA, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, USSR, Malaysia, Iran, Iraq and Turkey. 

He has received innumerable awards, the main ones are : “Ekushe Padak” on Music in 1995, Apex Foundation Award for his social contributions, Bengal Centenary Award as a writer and singer, Abbasuddin Gold Medal (Chittagong) for music, Manik Mia Award for Journalism, Nazrul Academy Award for Music, Life time Achievement Award from Channel I and Robi 2011 for Music and Writing. He was acclaimed as the best writer by National Press Club in 2010. Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen praised his autobiography Jiban Nadir Ujane.

Dr. Nashid Kamal, grand-daughter of the legendary musician Abbasuddin Ahmed, has been an outstanding exponent of Nazrul Geeti, semi-classical, folk music and Urdu ghazals in Bangladesh for over four decades. She has trained under music legends like Ustad P.C Gomes, Ustad Akther Shadmani, Ustad Quader Zameeree and Pandit Jasraj of India. She is a regular performer in Bangladesh in radio, TV and in prestigious stage programmes. She also performs in Tara TV and stages in Kolkata. She has won Nazrul Award from Nazrul Academy in 2009. She has also published many books including translations in English on Kazi Nazrul Islam’s poetry. She visited New Delhi, Guwahati and Kolkata in India for performances under ICCR sponsorship in September 2011.  

All are cordially invited to attend the programme. Entry is open to all (there is no need to collect Invitation Pass). 

Dhaka,
October 26, 2017

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