Save the Sitar

Featured on BBC Urdu and Dawn

I really love what [Save the Sitar] is doing … keep up the good work!
Kuljit Bhamra MBE, British composer and tabla player

And what these two young gentlemen are doing is fantastic. So I just think it’s wonderful—it gives me hope for the future.
Lowell Lybarger, tabla player and instructor Arkansas Tech University

Save the Sitar is an exciting project. May it grow and gain support from a wide readership! Muneeb and Mubeen Irfan Chaudhary’s enthusiasm is infectious. The project is so worthy: interviews with nearly forgotten players and craftsmen; ideas on how to approach and hear rag music anew; appreciations of lesser known classical instruments. And most of all its outreach to young listeners. It’s time that the traditions of classical music in Pakistan be rediscovered and take a deserved place in the global reach of rag music.
Allyn Miner, sitarist & Faculty Emerita University of Pennsylvania

When I met Muneeb and Mubeen, it warmed my heart to see young men who felt passion [for Pakistan’s classical music] and had the sensitivity to identify that it is something beautiful that needs to be saved.
Sarah Zaman, classical singer & musicologist National College of Arts Lahore

Journeying through the Old City of Lahore, the heart of Punjab, you are bombarded by an assortment of noises and smells. The calls of vendors in the bazaar, the smell of fresh-cooked naan, the clink of coins as they are dropped into the merchant’s hand, they all lure you out on the street. Yet in this colorful background, something is missing. Where is the music? That’s where we come in. Save the Sitar aims to create a thriving culture of Pakistani classical music that will remain true to its roots while having a strong worldwide presence. Lofty goals aside, what have we achieved so far? What is our detailed mission statement? What’s our history and who are we?

Learn more about us and how you can help us further our cause!