The future of classical music doesn’t look good in Pakistan: Humera Channa
Humera Channa has achieved countless milestones and garnered accolades in the two odd decades she’s been a part of Pakistan’s music industry as a playback singer and recording artist.
She has a calm and mild persona. Her down-to-earth personality becomes all the more apparent as I met with her for this interview for Images on Sunday on her recent trip to Karachi while she dealt with the exhaustion of a hectic US concert tour.
It is pertinent to mention here that after gaining immense popularity in Pakistan as a vocal artist, she has gone on to become a cultural ambassador for the country.
Her talent has taken her to India, the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh (for the SAARC Leaders Conference), Canada, United Kingdom and across Europe to name just a few places.
“I was in the US to participate in Independence Day shows. It was simply wonderful. The expatriate community applauded heartily to all my performances,” she shared rather merrily.
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Humera Channa enjoys tremendous prowess in geet, ghazal, thumri, dadhra, kafi, semi-classical, sufi, hamd and naat. “I am in love with all kinds of good music and always searching for something new. These days I am focusing on ghazal and sufiana kalam,” she said.
What is ‘good music’ for her? “Classical has always been known as ‘good music’ as every kind of music branches out from it,” she responded. Humera is currently not just hosting but also melodising the ongoing Bazm-i-Mehdi Hasan on PTV.
She is a staunch supporter of productive collaborations, having collaborated with Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Ustad Hamid Ali Khan, Ustad Asad Amanat Ali Khan, Ustad Ghulam Ali, Ustad Ghulam Abbas, Abbas Ali Khan, Mekaal Hassan, Jawed Bashir and many others.
“Collaborations play a vital role in the road to success and provide the opportunity of doing something different,” she said.
“There have been two unforgettable collaborations," she continues, "One with Ghulam Ali saheb, which was for his compositions for an audio album released quite successfully in India; and the other with the late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan saheb for the Indian movie Bandit Queen. To this day, I feel lucky to have worked with both legends.”
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