Majid Qiyam

Majid Qiyam

Musical Education

Mr. Majid Saheb began learning music at the age of ten. At the urging of his father and elder brother Seddiq Qiyam (a famous Afghani musician and published author of ICM), he took up tabla. Mr. Majid studied under the tutelage of his brother Seddiq for many years learning (in addition to the tabla) the rabab, harmonium and singing. While in high school, Mr. Majid played in the school band. Later, he and his friends formed a group called Baaran orchestra meaning "The Rain Band". Farhad Darya, who was a famous singer at the time, was the leader of the group.

In 1982, a group of musicians came to Afghanistan to teach Indian Classical Music. One of these musicians was Ustad Orfan Mohammed Khan. Ustad Khan was/is a sitar and sarode player of the Lucknow Shah Jahan Pur Gharana. Mr. Majid was eager to learn and was a natural musician. He excelled at sitar and would often lead the class in riyaz. He studied with Ustad Khan for 4 years.

The Taliban In Afghanistan

Life was good for Mr. Majid in Khabul. He was working as a journalist at the official news paper, and playing sitar, rabab, harmonium, tabla and singing. However, this changed abruptly when the Taliban came into power in 1996. Music and culture would suffer under the new regime. Ancient Hindu and Buddist statues were destroyed, music was outlawed. Local musicians were either murdered or they escaped. Foreignors were no longer welcome. Ustad Khan could no longer come to Khabul to teach his students. The impact of the Taliban rule became clear one night in the Qiyam household. Late in the night, the door of the family home was broken down by Taliban soldiers. They smashed his sitar, destroyed all his other musical instruments such as tabla, rabab and harmunium. They also smashed his cameras, VCR, and TV. They burned all of his books, photographs (family photos) etc. Finally, they confiscated his houseand fortunately he was given the chance of escaping from Afghanistan "with empty hands" along with his family of six.

Life In Exile

Like many musicians, Mr. Majid and his family of six fled Afghanistan and settled in Kyrgyzistan. There, supported by the Afghanistan Artist Union, he began to instruct students in tabla, rabab and harmonium. Soon, Mr. Majid had a large following. After 5 years in Kyrgyzistan, Mr. Majid decided to find a better life for his family and he immigrated to Ottawa, Canada. Later, the Qiyam family settled his family in Richmond British Columbia, which has a more "temperate" climate than Ottawa, one might say.

Majid Qiyam Playing Rabab

Concerts

Mr. Majid has given many concerts in all kinds of venues over the years. Mr. Majid is a very powerful singer, many joke that he does not need a microphone. He sings Ghazuls in Dari and Pashtu. He has given many rabab concerts and is one of the few people in Canada capable of teaching the rabab and Afghani folk music. He has performed at the Chai East Is East house. Recently, Mr. Majid has performed on sitar and rabab in Vancover with a famous tabla player, Mr. Cassius Khan, for Bangla and Ariyana TV.

The Musician

Majid Qiyam & Son: Playing some musicI had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Majid when he was in Ottawa. At the time I was looking for sitar instruction and he agreed to teach me. During the year in which I studied with Mr. Majid, we conversed a lot about ICM. He used to tell me that the sitar is the "king" of all instruments. I learned a lot from my teacher, and we studied the beginnings of many raagas together (I was a cold beginner and I still am now!). He was always a patient and generous teacher. He would repeat the tali until I found the beat and would give me as much material as I could handle. We became good friends and would travel to ICM concerts together. I was always amazed at his knowledge of ICM. At a sarode concert, the artist (Wajahat Khan) began by stroking the tarabs and Mr. Majid said to me, "ah yes, that is Bhairavi".