KARACHI: Although the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) trains its students in the fields of dramatic arts and music, it is more known for the former. One of the reasons could be that those who take part in drama (actors, writers, directors) tend to get absorbed in the entertainment industry more readily than budding musicians.

But on Tuesday night, on the occasion of Pakistan`s Independence Day, the music department of the academy, led by sitar player Nafees Ahmad, showed that it too is working hard to make its presence felt among admirers and practitioners of music.

The marked feature of the event was the choice of songs. It was so heartening to hear compositions made by the likes of Sohail Rana and Nisar Bazmi, originally sung by mellifluous voices such as those of Shehnaz Begum and Lubna Nadim.

The concert began with the national anthem.

Apart from Nafees Ahmad, there were 12 musicians, nine vocalists and one conductor on the stage, who presented the anthem. The first song that the students and faculty of the academy sang was `Ay nigar-i-watan` soulfully composed by Sohail Rana and sung by the incomparable Habib Wali Mohammad. It seemed that the boys, of the nine vocalists, were a little nervous, because a couple of them missed a line or two. This happened perhaps because it was the first piece of the evening. Overall, the performance was nice.

Then came the famous `Ay rooh-i-Quaid` that TV viewers may remember from more than two decades ago. Composed by Nisar Bazmi and penned by Mehshar Badayuni, it was first sung by Sajjad Ali and Benjamin Sisters in the 1980s. The Napa students did full justice to the track -their harmonies were especially good.

Then came `Khushbu bunn ke` set to music by Niaz Ahmed. When Nafees Ahmad mentioned the name Lubna Nadim, the original singer of the song, it might have transported many music lovers in the hall to the times when Pakistan Television used to introduce quality vocalists, many of whom have now vanished into oblivion.

This was followed by another Sohail Rana track `Ghar ke chiragh` sung by Runa Laila. The students of the academy performed it with a great deal of understanding of the lyrics.

After the song, Nafees Ahmad picked up his sitar and played two instrumentals. The first was `Ay Quaid-i-Azam tera ahsaan hai`, and the second, one of the most known national songs, `Sohni dharti`.

Both instrumentals were very well received by the audience, after which the concert reverted to the singing mode. The students sang some other delightful numbers, including the heart-warming `Mauj barhey ya aandhi aaey`