Iftekhar Anwar: One man’s mission to popularise classical music in Bangladesh
As Iftekhar Anwar prepares for his orchestra’s performance, he reflects on his 14-year journey to bring Western Classical Music to Bangladesh and his attempt at documenting Bangla folk melodies in written form
As I entered the Alliance Francaise de Dhaka in Dhanmondi last week, just past the cafeteria, I saw the place buzzing with preparations for a variety of events and exhibitions, in celebration of its 65th anniversary. Among the activities, I came across Iftekhar Anwar, who was also busy getting ready for an event he had been eagerly anticipating.
"It feels like all these years of effort are finally culminating in one big performance," Iftekhar remarked, referring to an orchestra performance by his group, 'Flaming Acoustics Orchestra,' originally planned for today, October 11, at AFD's Dhanmondi branch.
However, Iftekhar's plans to usher Western Classical Music into our local demography had started almost one and a half decade ago— in 2010. After returning to Bangladesh in 2009 having earned his diploma in music from the Razi Conservatory in Athens, and completing his music degree specialising in classical guitar from Arizona State University, Iftekhar founded the Classical Music Academy Bangladesh (CMA). The sole objective— sharing his innate knowledge of classical guitar and classical music with the future generations of Bangladesh.
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"There really isn't an audience for classical music in Dhaka or anywhere in the country," Iftekhar said.
"I couldn't simply rely on performing live shows every month—it wouldn't have worked. As the only classical guitarist here with a solid background in both classical music and guitar, my knowledge wasn't being passed on to local students or enthusiasts. That's why I chose to focus on teaching music instead of becoming just another musician struggling to book shows," he added.
"We faced more obstacles than success. We still face a number of obstacles to this day, unfortunately. Be it gathering funds or arranging shows, CMA never truly blossomed into what it could've or should've been"
Luckily, Iftekhar was able to connect with a handful of individuals, though they weren't professional classical musicians. They had earned music degrees and had a foundational understanding of classical music. Some were school teachers, others were music tutors, and that's how he formed his initial group of instructors or "orchestra" musicians.
That's when things began to take off for CMA. With a small team of co-instructors, Iftekhar started teaching at various schools across the city, and offering violin and guitar courses at international cultural exchange organisations like the Goethe Institut and Alliance Francaise.
However, 14 years later, CMA and Iftekhar don't have much to show for their efforts. Some of the original instructors pursued different paths in life, and many students didn't stick with their lessons or completed their courses. Over the years, both the students and CMA have managed to put together a few performances, but that's about it.
"We faced more obstacles than success. We still face a number of obstacles to this day, unfortunately. Be it gathering funds or arranging shows, CMA never truly blossomed into what it could've or should've been," said Iftekhar.
Folk Melody of Bangladesh
Iftekhar believes that the possibilities of classical music are endless, that it's not about limiting yourself to just the curriculum of what one is being taught during classical music courses.
"It's not as if you can't apply classical guitar skills and technique on electric guitars or other instruments. Classical music can go with any sort of composition and choreography—it can go with theatre, with dance and so much more," he said.
"In reality, you need a lot of extra motivating factors to come out of the box of classical music and apply it elsewhere. This is regularly seen in Europe or North America, but it's near impossible to translate such diverse applications in our local scene."
Having said that, probably Iftekhar's biggest victory and contribution would be his effort at documenting our heritage, Bangla folk in the form of readable music and orchestra— a brainchild of his which resulted in the book 'Folk Melody of Bangladesh', in which Iftekhar served as an editor.
"Bangla folk since forever has been orally transmitted from generation to generation, there's no written form. By listening to tons of recordings and doing field work, we tried to convert the music into standard notation," said Iftekhar.
'Folk Melody of Bangladesh' is an anthology of 204 Bangla folk songs and it has been in the works since 2012 . Every song also has a synopsis attached and the book will be available in multiple languages including Bangla, English and French.
"When there's standard notation, you can use and apply the music anywhere. You can vocalise it, you can orchestrate it," he added.
The book is being officially launched later tonight at AFD , alongside an orchestra performance of some Bangla Folk songs which you may have heard over the years.
