LAHORE: A splendid music evening featuring two Austrian artistes who played on the clarinet and the accordion held the audience spellbound at Alhamra on Saturday.

The evening, organised to celebrate the Austrian National Day, was held by the Austrian Embassy.

Austrian ambassador to Pakistan Dr Brigitta Blaha held the Lahore Arts Council in high esteem for extending cooperation in holding the musical evening.

Clarinettist Christopher Haritzer and accordionist Paul Schuborth beautifully played some seven or so pieces of diverse range of tunes from traditional Austrian music blendedwith the music influenced by folk and Jazz. The evening unveiled the national anthems of both Pakistan and Austria, played by the two Austrian instrumentalists.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Haritzer and Schuberth said that it was their very first visit to Pakistan. They said they had conducted a few hours long workshop at the National College of Arts and would visit some of the historical monuments in the old city on Sunday.

They said their performance was based on the combination of their own folk tunes basically the European music.

Pakistani dhol player Zaigham also did music fusion with the Austrian artistes. The fusion session was much appreciated by the audience.