Introducing the country through the flute

Recently, a Nepalese cultural program was presented at the Dubai Festival. Nepali artist Durga Prasad Khatiwada performed his flute in the program. Last year, he was part of the Nepalese cultural team that visited Dhaka on the occasion of President Bidyadevi Bhandari's visit.

In this way, Khatiwada has got the opportunity to go to about 20 countries for his art presentation. When special guests like Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit Nepal, he has gotten the opportunity to play the flute. He got this opportunity as he is the music officer of the Cultural Corporation of Nepal called Rastriya Nachghar.

Khatiwada, an artist from Ilam, started singing songs and also took up the flute from an early age. He once had the opportunity to perform at a cultural event organized on the occasion of Saraswati Puja in Darjeeling, India. Following his stellar performance, a man praised him and encouraged him to play the flute; that man was senior musician Gopal Yonjan.

Khatiwada then focused on his flute playing career and moved to India at the age of 19 where he also received his formal education. He graduated from the Banaras Hindu University in 2003 with a Master's Degree in Flute. After completing his education, he performed in various classical music concerts in Delhi, Brindaban and Mathura and also recorded musical pieces in the studio.. He won his first gold medal at the 2000 All India Youth Festival in India.

He taught classical music at the Fine Arts Campus in Nepal for 7 years and was also involved in teaching music at Shreejana Art College. Khatiwada also initiated teaching flute in higher education in Nepal by creating a curriculum. He has taught classical music at various universities in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany and France.

Khatiwada's observations indicate our music is very popular in those countries as. He made it clear that he returned home with the goal of doing something in Nepal despite the opportunity to settle abroad. He said that he came back to his homeland with the intention of initiating something at the grassroots level, as there are little to no classes for flute.

Musicians have experienced a lot of change in the way they look at classical music. The younger generation has come to understand that classical music is the grammar of all music. Now students of all backgrounds come to learn classical music to make themselves more sophisticated.

The presence of people in classical music programs is increasing now more than in the past. However, the government should also be interested in its development. Music can change a person's nature. This brings peace to the nation. If all music is to be developed, it is necessary to develop classical music. The national media should give priority to this. Similarly, there are many universities in Nepal now and they must open and develop a faculty of music as well.

Khatiwada, an expert in classical music, said that he would dedicate his entire life for the development of classical music in Nepal.

Musician Khatiwada also presented flute playing in the office of the nepalnews.com.