KATHUA: A Two day International conference titled "Interdisciplinary Probabilities in Music" commenced at Girdhari Lal Dogra Government Degree College Hiranagar with great zeal and zest.

The Chief Guest on the occasion was Pandit Vidhyadhar Vyas a renowned musician with performance, academics and administrative qualities, former Vice Chancellor Bhatkhande Institute of Music, Lucknow. Deputy Commissioner Kathua Rakesh Minhas, was the guest of honour on the occasion.

The keynote speaker on the occasion was Dr. Pankaj Mala Sharma, former Chairperson Department of Music Punjab University Chandigarh.

After the ceremonial lightning of the lamp the Principal GLDM GDC Hiranagar Dr. Pragya Khanna presented formal welcome address.The Principal held that Music is the very essence of life and the new age of interdisciplinary studies has made it pertinent to explore the convergence and probabilities amongst different disciplines.

The conference was also attended by Prof. Lawanya Kiriti, a Hindustani Classical Vocalist from Darbhanga, Bihar. The keynote Speaker Prof. Pankaj Mala Sharma very elegantly elaborated upon all the dimensions of music and congratulated the organisers for a thought-provoking conference.

Chief Guest in his address emphasised upon the need to have cross- discipline understanding and called upon students to have an in-depth understanding of the subject. Through the inter-disciplinary probabilities in music an attempt to harmonise cultures by bridging the borders through music is being made. In a world marked by differences music serves common ground where shared experiences and emotions could be traced.

Seema Anil Sehgal, Prof. Renu Sehgal, Prof. Seema Sharma, Dr. Jasmeet Kaur and Dr. Sumit Madaan the faculty of Music from different parts of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir were felicitated before the beginning of second session.

The second session of the conference was chaired by Prof. Pankaj Mala Sharma, and the speaker for the session was Madhubanti Sharma from Germany. The speaker of the session again emphasised on the need to have a cross-discipline dialogue so that the artificial boundaries between people and subjects could be minimised.

The proceedings of the conference were handled by Prof. Rakesh Sharma, Dr. Arun Kumar and Prof. Shapia Shameem.

The first day of the conference was successfully concluded under the guidance and support of Dr. Pragya Khanna and Convenorship of Dr. Bharat Bhushan, Head Department of Music.

The Conference was also attended by Principals of the adjoining Colleges, participants from different regions, faculty and students of GLDM GDC Hiranagar.