Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 18, 2019 Police in Slovakia are searching for four members of Afghanistan’s first all-female orchestra who disappeared from their hotel after participating in a local festival. Zohra, a 35-member orchestra, performed at a concert on July 13 at the Pohoda Festival in the western town of Trencin, some 130 kilometers
Time: Fresh from a sold-out concert tour of the U.K. and Sweden, Afghanistan’s first female conductor is convinced music can help deliver peace to her war-torn country. If only the Taliban would listen. Click here to read more (external link).
June Soh VOA News March 27, 2019 WASHINGTON — An Eastern man and a Western woman make up one of the most unusual musical groups in Washington, D.C. Masood Omari and Abigail Adams Greenway both play tabla, an Eastern percussion instrument, every day in Greenway’s basement outside Washington. They call this colorfully decorated studio, Tablasphere. And
BBC News: A new documentary celebrates Ahmad Zahir, the ‘60s and ‘70s icon who mysteriously died in 1979. Arwa Haider talks to the people making the film, including Zahir’s daughter, about how the singer combined popularity with protest. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 22, 2018 ISLAMABAD — The consequences of Afghanistan’s increasingly deadly war are weighing heaviest on the nation’s civilians, with women bearing the brunt of the violence. The Taliban banned music and girls education, and restricted outdoor activities of women when the group was controlling most of Afghanistan. But violence and social
Tolo News: Thousands of music fans cheered their favorite musicians and singers at a music festival in Bamiyan province on Friday. The festival will continue for two days. Organizers of the event said the festival is aimed at strengthening tourism and supporting Afghanistan’s ancient culture. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: The 2018 Polar Music Prize has been awarded to the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) and Dr Ahmad Sarmast, its founder and director, in recognition of how this inspirational organization has used the power of music to transform young people’s lives. The king of Sweden on Thursday night handed over the award to the
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty February 14, 2018 The Afghan National Institute of Music (ANIM) and its founder have won the 2018 Polar Music Prize, a Swedish award, in recognition of “how this inspirational organization has used the power of music to transform young people’s lives.” The award panel said on February 14 that the music
Gulf News: It is a chilly Friday morning — the Afghan weekend — but Salim Shaheen, Afghanistan’s “Sultan of Cinema”, has graciously agreed to meet for a chat in his middle-class downtown Kabul neighbourhood. In the face of perpetual threat, the director, producer and actor extraordinaire has carried Afghanistan’s film industry for more than two decades almost
The Washington Post: “Music has always been in the blood of Afghans, but it was silenced for a long time,” said Massood Sanjer, program manager for Tolo Television and a founder of the show, in its 13th season. “ ‘Afghan Star’ has created a revolution in music at the same time the country has moved to democracy.” But not