ISLAMABAD The eyes could not believe that the packed house was there only to listen to the pure classical music. Among the audience were the Federal Minister for Education Aseff Ahmed Ali, recently appointed Federal Minister for Culture Pir Aftab Hussain Shah Jilani and many top bureaucrats and politicians besides a large number of youth. Dedicated to living legend of Patiala dynasty Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, the classical music evening entitled 'ahang-e-khusravi was arranged by the Classical Music Heritage Trust (CMHT) in collaboration with the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) here at the latters auditorium. The evening was decorated with the outshining performance by the living classical music legend Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, his sons Rustam and Sultan and his students. He has been imparting vocal lessons to the young classical music lovers since 2003 at the academy established by the Classical Music Heritage Trust one year after its inception. Now many of his students have excelled in the classical singing. The king of ghazal singing Mehdi Hassan also graced the occasion with his presence. He was given standing ovation when he entered the auditorium even by the two federal ministers who were present on the occasion. Rustam Fateh Ali Khan and Sultan Fateh Ali Khan, being the sons of the legend and popular for their skilful classical singing, delivered what the audience expected from them. But, Asad Qizalbash, Abbas Ali Khan, Sajjal, Fahim and Kanwal were those who could also manage to amaze the audience with their marvellous performance. The duo rendition 'nain so nain milaye rakhnay ko in raag darbari by Fahim and Kanwal was the first mature sinning of the evening, followed by an Afghan national Attiqs performance in raag poria dhanashri. Sajjal, a second year student who hails from Hassanabdal, presented raag maalkons in a very professional way and received big applause. Abbas Ali Khan who is learning classical music from Ustad Fateh Ali Khan for the last six years performed 'bakha rut aai in raag megh and received several rounds of applause from the audience. Sadia Imam opened the evening with her rendition of 'chanda chupp jaa mora piya nahien paas in raag behag that is an evening raga. Though she was not that mature in the classical singing but she proved to be on the right path. Her confidence showed that soon a classical vocalist of calibre in the making, and soon her stylish classical singing would be amusing the traditional music lovers. Speaking on the occasion, the soul behind the Classical Music Heritage Trust Iftikhar Rasheed said that the trust was established in 2002 to preserve and revive the dying tradition of classical music by a few concerned friends. Just after one year of its efforts, the trust could be able to establish and run a classical music academy where vocal and instrumental lessons are imparted by the living legend Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, he said. Iftikhar Rasheed told the audience that about 10 thousand man hours of classical music have been passed to the younger generation at the CMHT academy. To facilitate more youth and for their convenience, the trust has launched the vocal and instrumental classes at the PNCA too, he mentioned. Federal Minister for Culture Pir Aftab Hussain Shah Jilani while speaking on the occasion said that the government would take all steps to revive the classical music, and take good care of the living legends. Tauqeer Nasir, the director general of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), once again highlighted the importance of the cultural activities to promote the soft image of the country.