Hareep: The Music, the Musicians, and the Stories Behind the Tradition
Aga Khan Centre, London, N1C 4DN
Thursday 5th November 2026
About the event
Hareep is an indigenous musical tradition of the Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan. For generations, Hareep accompanied soldiers to battle and home again, and marked victories and defeats. Hareep also animated polo matches and seasonal celebrations, and formed part of shamanic trance rituals.
The Bericho, a hereditary community of musicians, have sustained Hareep through oral teaching, apprenticeship, and performance. Today, much of this knowledge rests with a few senior practitioners, which makes documentation increasingly important.
This lecture-recital combines live performance with dialogue. Three master musicians from Hunza will share how they learned their repertoires and pass on musical knowledge. They will also reflect on how the social position of musicians in Hunza has changed. Researchers Colin Huehns and Anna Schmid will join them to discuss their fieldwork in the region.
The evening also launches the Aga Khan Library’s digitised edition of Music of Northern Pakistan (1991), Colin Huehns’s landmark dissertation.
Speakers
Hareep is an indigenous musical tradition of the Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan. For generations, Hareep accompanied soldiers to battle and home again, and marked victories and defeats. Hareep also animated polo matches and seasonal celebrations, and formed part of shamanic trance rituals.
The Bericho, a hereditary community of musicians, have sustained Hareep through oral teaching, apprenticeship, and performance. Today, much of this knowledge rests with a few senior practitioners, which makes documentation increasingly important.
This lecture-recital combines live performance with dialogue. Three master musicians from Hunza will share how they learned their repertoires and pass on musical knowledge. They will also reflect on how the social position of musicians in Hunza has changed. Researchers Colin Huehns and Anna Schmid will join them to discuss their fieldwork in the region.
The evening also launches the Aga Khan Library’s digitised edition of Music of Northern Pakistan (1991), Colin Huehns’s landmark dissertation.
Speakers
- Colin Huehns: music researcher and author of Music of Northern Pakistan (1991)
- Anna Schmid: ethnographer and author of a major study of the Bericho community
- Ustad Shamsuddin: hereditary suranai and tutek player from the Bericho community
- Ustad Abdul Karim: suranai and tutek player, and the first member of the wider Burusho community to formally apprentice under a Bericho musician
- Ustad Baz: hereditary dadang player from the Bericho community
- Saad Barcha: DPhil candidate in Music, University of Oxford, and Farhad Daftary Doctoral Scholar
Price
Ticket price
£0.00
