Mohammad Aizaz Sohail (Urdu: محمد اعزاز سہیل) is a Pakistani singer from Karachi. Born on May 22, 1987, Aizaz is a trained singer in eastern classical music. He is well known for his appearances in Pakistan Superstar and Pakistan Television Corporation's program 'Firdous-e-Gosh'.[1] Also a teacher to many renowned names of our music industry,[2]

Mohammad Aizaz Sohail
Photo of Mohammad Aizaz Sohail at Firdous-E-Gosh
Photo of Mohammad Aizaz Sohail at Firdous-E-Gosh
Background information
Birth nameMohammad Aizaz
GenresClassical, Ghazal, Playback, Blues, Fusion, Sufi, Thumri
Occupation(s)Singer, Musician
Instrument(s)Tanpura Swarmandal
Years active2000–present
LabelsIndependent

Early life edit

Mohammad Aizaz Sohail was born on May 22, 1987, in Karachi ,Pakistan. Mohammad Aizaz Sohail started singing at a very tender age of 6 years. He understood the intricacies of music at a small age under the guidance of his mother. At school level he used to lead the band choir and his college helped him unlock his full potential. When Tsunami struck Indonesia and almost every Pakistani was engrossed in collecting funds, Aizaz performed with the renowned Ghazal singer Tina Sani and received much praise and admiration. He won the ISEO (International Schools Education Olympiad) in the vocal category. Aizaz started taking formal Classical training from Master Abdul Rauf.[3] Just after 6 months of training he was able to obtain a gold medal in the All Pakistan Music Conference in the classical category. He also secured 2nd Position in the reality show Pakistan Superstar. Aizaz is the student of Ustad Faheem Mazhar.[4] He is also taking help for vocal training from Anol Chatterjee who is the senior disciple of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty. He has worked in Pakistan Television Corporation and many other TV channels making successful appearances.

Career edit

Mohammad Aizaz Sohail is active in the field of music and has performed in the prestigious All Pakistan Music Conference,[5] Pakistan Superstar, Superstars of Tomorrow[6] by Radio1 FM91 and the Octave Project.[7] Aizaz made his first TV appearance in PTV World's program Weekend World[8] since 2014 and has appeared in the program numerous times.[9] Aizaz and his group of musicians performed as guest band for Absolute Manto by Olomopolo Media. Aizaz became known for his regular appearances in PTV Home's program Firdous-e-Gosh based on eastern classical music.

All Pakistan Music Conference edit

Aizaz got the opportunity to perform thrice in the most prestigious event of Pakistani Eastern Classical music, All Pakistan Music Conference from the year 2013 and on wards. All Pakistan Music conference (APMC) was founded in 1959 for the promotion of classical music in Pakistan and is being held every year. Aizaz made his debut APMC in October 2013 in which he performed and won a gold medal in the amateur classical category. Aizaz was promoted to the professional Classical Category in 2014's edition of APMC and performed in the same category in the 2015's APMC edition as well. Aizaz returned at All Pakistan Music Conference in March 2019 and performed Raag Madhuvanti.[10]

All Pakistan Music Conference Lahore edit

Year Category Genre Language Note(s)
2013 Amateur South Asian Classical Hindi Awarded Gold Medal for best Classical Vocals
2014 Professional Karnatak Vocal Hindi Introduction of Karnatik Classical Vocals to APMC for the first time.
2015 Professional Karnatak Vocal and South Asian Classical Fusion Hindi First ever fusion of North and South traditions of singing in Pakistan.
2016 Professional South Asian Classical Hindi Khayal in Raag Behag.
2017 Professional South Asian Classical Hindi Khayal in Raag Charukeshi.
2018 Professional South Asian Classical Hindi Khayal in Raag Kedara. [11]
2019 Professional South Asian Classical Hindi Raga Todi

All Pakistan Music Conference Karachi edit

Year Category Genre Language Note(s)
2019 Professional South Asian Classical Hindi Raag Madhuvanti[10]

Pakistan Superstar edit

In the year 2014, Aizaz was selected to perform[12] in the digital music reality show by the name of Pakistan Superstar[13] and secured the 2nd position the show. The notable performance of Aizaz from this show are of Tu He Re[14] and Kahay Cher Cher.[15]

Octave Project edit

Aizaz performed in the Octave Project in 2014, a platform for performing arts for budding artists and musicians. He is well known for his cover of Breathless by Shankar Mahadevan and Zamanay Kay Andaaz by Junoon.

Firdous-e-Gosh edit

Aizaz joined the team of young singers in PTV Home's program Firdous-e-Gosh in 2014 where he performed the opening act the Lakshan Geet for the program along with a bunch of other classical singers as well. Firdous-e-Gosh is an eastern classical based show in which one Raag was thoroughly explained in an episode by theory and performances. Aizaz made his first appearance in the program in the Ahir Bhairav episode and continued till the last aired episode of the program. His notable performances in the program were Tan Mann Dhan Tope Varun from the episode of Raag Kalavati and Fusion from the Raag Charokeshi episode.

Khoye Hu'un Ki Justaju edit

Mohammad Aizaz Sohail recently joined and became a permanent part of Pakistan Television Corporation’s newly launched program Khoye Hu'un Ki Justaju[16] as a singer. The concept of the program is based on remembering the bygone traditions, people and cultural values. Pakistan Television Corporation chairman Atta ul Haq Qasmi is himself a permanent part of the show. Aizaz has been assigned to remember and share the memories of Pakistan’s music of the golden era.

Lahore Music Meet edit

Year Appeared As Note(s)
2016 Moderator Moderated a workshop with Ustad Badar uz Zaman and Rakae Jamil on Classical Music.
2017 Vocalist He has performed in Lahore Music Meet 2017 as a playback vocalist [17] and received great appreciation.[18][19]
2018 Vocalist He also performed at Lahore Music Meet 2018 for the crowd of Lahore.[20]
2020 Vocalist Mohammad Aizaz performed with Mughal-e-Funk and Fake Shamaans along with Natasha Humera Ijaz and Haniya Aslam on both days respectively.[21][22][23][24][25]

Lifetime Learning At LUMS edit

Mohammad Aizaz worked as an assistant professor at the Lifetime Learning At LUMS Programme along with the noted Kathak dancer Nighat Chaodhry and Imran Mushter Nafees. He taught music in collaboration with Dance and Theater.[26] A course which gives an exhaustive insight to performing arts along with the opportunity to perform on-stage. He is currently teaching his own course of vocal culturing [27]

Bands edit

Mughal-E-Funk edit

Mohammad Aizaz has performed at a number of places with the South-Asian Funk Fusion Band called Mughal-E-Funk. Performing at True Brew Studios, Levi's Live [28] and the Governor House Sindh at British Council's 70th Birthday [29] to name a few.

Mekaal Hassan Band edit

Mohammad Aizaz Sohail has also performed with the Lux Style Awards winning Mekaal Hassan Band[30] as a featured vocalist in their recent tour and shows.

Amezish edit

Mohammad Aizaz recently formed a band by the name of Amezish [31] with Waleed Attique who is a bassist to many renowned names in our industry like the Mekaal Hassan Band, Shiraz Uppal and Asrar to name a few. Also Lala Ahsan who is a drummer to Badnaam (band) who were the runners up in Pepsi Battle Of Bands. Their music is aimed at fusing Eastern and Western in a very different way as opposed to other fusion bands. Their debut track Lalit was well received by the masses and people from our industry.

Corporate Ventures edit

Coke Studio 2020 edit

Mohammad Aizaz[32] appeared as a featured artist in Coke Studio 2020, also known as Coke Studio Season 13.[33] He made his debut and performed Megh (raga)[34] in the final episode of the season. While explaining the song, Aizaz[35] told Coke Studio that, "This song is a five note (sur) raag; sa-re-ma-pa ni-sa and sa-ni-pa-ma-re-sa. It belongs to the kaafi thaat (family of raags) and the Megh raag is associated with rainfall. It is because of this raag that dark clouds form in the sky, making it rain. Those are the feels with which this raag has been made; the raag encapsulates you in the vision of serene rainfall atop a mountain” [36]

Bisconni Music edit

Mohammad Aizaz Sohail[37] made an appearance in the first season of Bisconni Music and performed his composition of Meda Ishq with Mughal-e-Funk and Mahnoor Altaf. The lyrics of the song were taken from Bulleh Shah and Khwaja Ghulam Farid.[38]

References edit

  1. ^ "Firdaus Gosh ‹ The Friday Times". www.thefridaytimes.com. September 5, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  2. ^ "You have to be selective when it comes to students: Mohamamd Aizaz ‹ The Express Tribune". March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  3. ^ "APMC Monthly Concert – Ustad Abdul Rauf". www.facebook.com. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  4. ^ "Faheem Mazhar". www.facebook.com. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  5. ^ Ahmed, Shoaib (September 29, 2015). "APMC's yearly festival from Oct 6". www.dawn.com. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  6. ^ "FM91 arranged a music concert for young... – Radio 1 FM91 Music Is My Lifeline | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  7. ^ "Octave Project – The time which you had been waiting for... | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  8. ^ "Weekendworld (Team Pakistan Superstar) – Video Dailymotion". Dailymotion. April 29, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  9. ^ Weekend World With Sophiya Date 18 04 2015 Aizaz Sohail Zahid Ummar Smita Roy, June 14, 2015, retrieved May 15, 2016
  10. ^ a b "A delight for lovers of indigenous music". www.thenews.com.pk. March 10, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  11. ^ "All Pakistan Music Conference Festival 2018 held in Lahore". Daily Times. November 15, 2018. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  12. ^ "Budding musicians shine through Pakistan Superstar – The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. June 6, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  13. ^ "Pakistan Superstar | Pakistan Superstar". www.pakistansuperstar.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2014.
  14. ^ "Aizaz Sohail | Tu Hi Re | Pakistan Superstar EP#6". Vimeo. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  15. ^ "Aizaz Sohail | Kahay cher cher | Pakistan Superstar EP#5". Vimeo. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  16. ^ http://www.ptv.com.pk/public/userView/ptvNews/UrduPrograms/UrduProgramsDetail/59 [dead link]
  17. ^ "Here's who will be performing at the Lahore Music Meet 2017". March 10, 2017.
  18. ^ "Lahore Music meet brings top tunes to Pakistan". gulfnews.com. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  19. ^ "Here's who will be performing at the Lahore Music Meet 2017". Images. March 10, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  20. ^ Sabeeh, Maheen. "Lahore Music Meet 2018 dates announced". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  21. ^ Khan, Zara (January 28, 2020). "Lahore Music Meet 2020". Mashable Pakistan. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  22. ^ "Lahore Music Meet 2020 schedule revealed!". Daily Times. January 28, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  23. ^ "The 5th Lahore Music Meet to commence in Feb 2020". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  24. ^ "Dates for the fifth annual Lahore Music Meet 2020 are now out". The Express Tribune. October 29, 2019.
  25. ^ "Lahore Music Meet 2020". Media Diaries. February 5, 2020.
  26. ^ "Centre for Continuing Education Studies".
  27. ^ "Centre for Continuing Education Studies".
  28. ^ "Levi's Live – Session 8 – Mooroo – Mughal-E-Funk – Shorbanoor". January 10, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  29. ^ "Mughal-E-Funk – Performance At Governor's House - British Council's 70th Birthday | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  30. ^ "Mekaal Hasan Band to play live show in Lahore". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  31. ^ "Amezish proves that less is indeed more ‹ The Express Tribune". August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  32. ^ "'Coke Studio 2020': Bohemia's comeback track is inspired by his personal struggles". The Express Tribune. December 26, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  33. ^ "Aizaz Sohail - Season 2020 Artist". Coke Studio. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  34. ^ "Megh by Aizaz Sohail". Trendinginsocial. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  35. ^ "'Coke Studio 2020' unveils Episode 4". Daily Times. December 26, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  36. ^ "Megh - Season 2020 Blogs". Coke Studio. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  37. ^ "Bisconni Music to debut on January 1, 2021 | Instep | thenews.com.pk". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  38. ^ "Bisconni Music - A Platform Celebrating New Music". Daily Pakistan Global. December 26, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2021.

External links edit