ISLAMABAD: Norwegian musician Bugge Wesseltoft and artists from Coke Studio performed in Islamabad on Tuesday night, at the Rock Musicarium near Lake View Park.

The musicians performed on an open air stage as part of a music festival on Tuesday.

The Norwegian pianist was accompanied by drummer and percussionist Louis J. Pinto also known as Gumby, Omran Shafique on guitar, Anas Alam Khan on bass and vocalists Rafaqat Ali Khan, and Natasha Ejaz.

`I love the new sound. I have never done this before. It was amazing playing with Bugge Wesseltoft who could read every note in my thoughts while I sang,` said Ms Sani, who charmed the audience with her rendition of the folk song Khari Neem ke Neechay.

The performance was a curtain raiser to a music festival that will be held this December in Norway, where musicians from around the world and the Pakistani artists from Tuesday`s concerts will be performing.

The event, called `Creating Horizons`, was organised by the Mela Festival and the Norwegian embassy.

`Mela Festival has been organized annually in Oslo since 2001 and is one of the biggest festivals in Europe showcasing Asian, African and Latin American arts and culture. Mela Festival`s Creating Horizons is a Pakistani-Norwegian collaboration, which aims to provide a breathing space for artistic expression through cultural engagements, Mela Festival art director Khalid Salimi said.

He said that oppressive political forces are suffocating creativity from all sides and art collaborations such this are urgently needed tocounter this regression.

`Their music was full of depth and warmth,` said Anisa Raja, who was amongst the audience.

To Rubab Jahangir, Mr Wesseltoft`s piano, Gumby`s drumming and the heavy guitar riffs, sounded like the soundtrack to a science fiction movie.

Mr Wesseltoft remained in the lower, middle and upper registers of his instrument, weaving elegant and electric patterns over Mr Shafique`s confident guitar riffs. The same artists also performed at the Norwegian embassy on Wednesday ni.