Zeb and Haniya Receive a Standing Ovation in Abu Dhabi

Zeb and HaniyaZeb and Haniya, Pakistan’s highly acclaimed musical duo, wowed audiences at New York University’s Abu Dhabi campus on April 4, 2013. Their packed performance was a follow-up to their 2011 appearance at NYU Abu Dhabi as part of a prestigious international artists’ colloquium, curated by world-renowned New York-based Performer/Director Anna Deveare Smith and eminent curator Gideon Lester. “It’s a great honor to be invited again by Professor Walter Zev Feldman to perform at such an illustrious university, alongside such amazing artists,” Zeb said.

Zeb and Haniya performed a mixed set consisting of some crowd favorites from their first album along with some new compositions from their soon-to-be-released second album. They were accompanied by their band consisting of Zeeshan Mansoor on Guitars, Kami Paul on Drums and percussion and Zain Ali on bass. The Pakistani group was joined by international musical virtuosos Patrick Farrell on the accordion and Michael Winograd on the clarinet. “We’re over the moon at the chance to collaborate with Patrick and Micheal as Haniya and I both really appreciate their body of work. We not only learn about other traditions when we work with musicians from other cultures, but even learn to appreciate what’s special about our own,” according to Zeb.

Zeb and Haniya, famed for their songwriting skills and their unique, lilting sound that melds the musical traditions from the sub-continent all the way to Turkey and Central Asia, are frequent international performers with a wide-fan base from India all the way to the US where they recently toured as part of the Center Stage Musical Diplomacy project, showing new facets of Pakistani culture to American audiences. The talented twosome also recently performed at the prestigious Southbank Centre Festival in the UK. “Played our first ever show in the UK at the Southbank Centre in London, as part of the Alchemy festival. Had a fantastic time! What a great crowd! Thank you London!,” posted Zeb and Haniya on their facebook page.