Tolo News: The Ministry of Education on Saturday retreated from its decision to ban public singing by schoolgirls above 12 years of age at public and private schools across the country. The move was first announced by the ministry on March 10. In a statement, the ministry announced to ban girls 12 years old and
AP: A memo from Afghanistan’s education ministry banning girls 12 years old and older from singing at school functions has been causing a stir on social media, prompting the authorities to say it was a mistake and that its authors had misunderstood the objective. Click here to read more (external link).
AFP: Sporting a black quiff and sideburns, Ahmad Zahir sang of love and heartbreak in liberal 1970s Kabul – a city now plagued by war and suffering, but where the popularity of Afghanistan’s “Elvis” remains undimmed 40 years after his death. Click here to read more (external link).
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