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
Tolo News: The Afghanistan National Institute Of Music (ANIM) on Sunday honored well known singer, Aryana Sayeed, with an award for bravery. Aryana has held public music concerts on a number of occasions in Afghanistan, including her show to mark Afghanistan’s Independence Day in August. This comes amid strong opposition of such events by some
Mohammad Ahmadi VOA News July 5, 2017 A council of Shi’ite religious leaders in Bamyan province in central Afghanistan banned a local musical festival, calling it “Harram” or against Islamic law, while many other religious leaders hailed it as art and a cultural event. Local officials say that despite the disagreement with religious leaders, the
PRI: Sulyman Qardash and I are in a rehearsal studio in Oakland. He’s the lead singer and guitarist of Kabul Dreams, one of Afghanistan’s first rock bands, and picks up a guitar to play me the song “Saturated Hope” off their newest album. Click here to read more (external link).
ANI: Spice Digital Limited, a Spice Connect company recently announced to become the platform and service provider for Roshan Afghanistan to launch a Music Karaoke product. The collaboration is intended to increase the music portfolio of Afghanistan, through which their subscribers can access a huge content playlist. Click here to read more (external link).
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 22, 2017 Sayed Jamal Mubarez, a rapper from northern Afghanistan who makes a living as a barber, has won the Afghan Star competition. The singing talent show similar to American Idol has been running for 12 years on Tolo TV, offering viewers some relief from daily news of insurgents and
Reuters: An 18-year-old female novice singer and a 23-year old barber-turned-rapper are the unlikely finalists of a televised talent contest providing Afghans a welcome distraction from the daily bloodshed in their country. The two are vying to become the next “Afghan Star.” This year’s season is the most tradition-breaking yet in a deeply conservative country where
Tolo News: Afghanistan’s first and only women’s orchestra, Zohra, has been awarded the Freemuse Award 2017. The orchestra is comprised of a group of students from the National Institute of Music (ANIM) in Kabul. The Afghanistan music industry is currently facing tremendous challenges following years of oppression under the Taliban and decades of war, which has