LAHORE: The Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall, glittered with multi-coloured lights at the reopening of Alhamra Academy of Performing Arts on Friday.

The ambiance was fantastic and a good number of audiences, including teachers and students, had come to the reopening ceremony. There was a live orchestra.

The female singers were wearing bangles and male singers were clad in bright dresses. The occasion was very festive and full of excitement.

The academy has been renovated with revamp of lights, walls, floors and sitting arrangements with the funds from the Punjab government and through ADB, a sum of Rs50m had been approved. Out of the total amount, half has been allocated to the Lahore Arts Council for the first phase while the rest would be given for the next phase, including video setups, research centre and other such facilities, said academy in-chargeMuhammad Arif while talking to Dawn.

The reopening of the academy was done by Secretary Information and Culture Raja Jahangir who was flanked by LAC Executive Director Zulfiqar Ali Zulfi.

Mr Jahangir said the academy was a platform through which visual and performing arts would be promoted and the youth would learn from experienced teachers.

Mr Zulfi announced that the LAC had put on board three mainstream singers, namely Hamid Ali Khan, Tarranum Naz and Sara Raza Khan, as the visiting faculty. These singers would share their experiences with young vocalists and would deliver weekly lectures, he added.

There were performances on the occasion by different singers and instrumentalists. The evening was conducted by Academy Supervisor Naveen Roma.

Noted guitarist Sajjad Tafu along with other guitarists gave a performance followed by a line-up of young singers and instrumentalists.