Music Stages a Comeback
At Afghanistan’s sole music academy, students learn to play traditional and Western instruments as part of a government initiative to relieve the pains of decades of war through music.
Afghanistan National Institute of Music
At Afghanistan’s sole music academy, an unidentified violinist takes instruction. At the school, students learn to play traditional and Western instruments as part of a government initiative to relieve the pains of decades of war through music. Despite a rich musical legacy, Afghanistan’s melodic development has been severely disrupted by years of war and was banned outright during the austere rule of the Taliban. At the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, orphans learn how to sing and play instruments alongside promising young musicians who are selected on merit.
In February, the school completed its second annual winter academy with a gala concert.
“We are committed to build ruined lives through music, given its healing power,” Ahmad Sarmast, head of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, told the Reuters News Agency.
Sarmast set up the school two years ago on the site of the School of Fine Arts’ music department, which was forced to shut in the early 1990s as civil war engulfed the country following a decade-long Soviet occupation. He hopes his graduates will form Afghanistan’s first national symphony orchestra, a vision already in the works.
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