Cultures in Harmony collaborates with the Viccaji sisters
By: Saadia Qamar
KARACHI: Friday evening at The Second Floor (T2F) proved to be a rather dazzling affair, where the quartet from Cultures in Harmony performed with sisters Zoe and Rachel Viccaji. The NGO aims to promote cultural understanding through music and was founded by an American musician, William Harvey.
The Viccaji sisters performed several numbers in collaboration with the quartet — one great song being their mother Lynette Viccaji’s composition titled “Weave a Sweet Dream”, a song with very strong and moving lyrics. Zoe Viccaji’s “Quarter to Three” was also an interesting composition, with a sultry “Meow” sung out by Rachel every now and then in the background.
Zoe’s upcoming Urdu song, “Jis Nay Bhi Aana Hai”, which is to be released shortly, was another memorable number to which Harvey said, “This collaboration was just great! Even though I can’t speak Urdu, I can speak the language of music. You can surely appreciate it even without understanding it.”
Harvey was accompanied by some other members of his group, including Emily Holden and Holly Jenkins who were both on violins and Peter Myers on the cello. Myers gave a smashing performance and many in the audience felt that it was a real treat listening to the cellist whose performance was truly unmatched.
Harvey’s strong string playing technique on the violin also greatly roused the audience, as he gave each note a life and language of its own. It was quite a unique experience to be able to unwind to such music on a Friday evening. Dan Viscotti’s number was another powerful collaboration in which all the musicians at the event performed to the best of their capabilities.
The café was jam packed by the end of the evening, and the crowd seemed to be fully engaged in the music and having a great time. By the end of some of the performances, one could hear pleas for an encore from the crowd, with murmurs of “one more song, please,” directed to the musicians.
Some personalities spotted at the event included novelist Bina Shah and Anila Weldon of Weldon Moms, a women support group. By the end of the event, people were profusely thanking and praising Harvey and his team as well as the Viccaji’s who were busy meeting and greeting friends who had come to see them perform at T2F that evening.
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