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A MASTER FINDS NEW SANCTUARY SUNDAY HERALD SUN, JULY 18 2004 Paul Stewart |
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Melbourne has benefited from the bloody terror of the Taliban's reign in Afghanistan by giving sanctuary to a master musician in leafy Mulgrave. Khalil Gudaz, a world renowned Sitar player, became a target of the murderous regime in 1998. "They were against all forms of music, which made me a big target" he said. "They destroyed all the instruments in fires. It was very, very sad.There were lots of musicians executed. I was in India at the time, studying, when they took over and was told never to come back. It is a dream of mine to return to play for my countymen at some stage." |
Gudaz said that Afghanistan had an illustrious music history, but that the Taliban were fanatical in their campaign against it. "One boy was overheard singing to himself in the sreet and this was reported to the Taliban who cut his tongue out," he said. "A good friend of mine was playing at a weddding when the Taliban arrived, arrested him and "took him for a walk". They ended up shooting him in the street." Gudaz said he had been "fascinated' by the Sitar after hearing it on radio as a child. I have studied the instrument fo many years now," he said. |
While living in India, he was invited to Melbourne for a concert and ended up staying after being granted residency under a United Nations refugee program. Gudaz has toured Europe and North America to great acclaim and supplements his performance fees by teaching Sitar in Melbourne. He practices for thirteen hours a day and is behind a drive to introduce the Sitar to a wider audience. "I played at the Meredith musical festival last year and got a terrific response from all the young people," he said. Click here to go back to the press releases page |
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