Afghanistan National Institute of Music

The Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) is a school of music in Kabul, Afghanistan. It was founded by the Afghan-Australian ethnomusicologist Dr. Ahmad Naser Sarmast, and offers a curriculum combining the tuition of both Afghan and Western music.[1][2] ANIM is a co-educational institute.[3][4]

Afghanistan National Institute of Music
Location
Kabul
,
Afghanistan
Information
EstablishedJune 20, 2010
DirectorDr. Ahmad Naser Sarmast
Websitehttp://www.anim-music.org/

Per an agreement between Sarmast and the Afghan Ministry of Education, the school accommodates both exceptionally talented students and underprivileged children.[1][5]

In 2013, ANIM's Afghan Youth Orchestra toured the United States, including performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.[2][5] In 2014 a suicide bomb attack at a student concert killed an audience member and the bomber,[6] and injured many more including Sarmast, who was nearly killed and lost some of his hearing.[7][8][9] In 2015, the first Afghan female conductor, 17-year-old Negin Khpalwak, held her first concert with an all-female ensemble.[10][11][12][9]

As of 2018 a third of the 250 students are female and the proportion is growing;[10] in 2019, Sarmast will take its all-female Zohra Orchestra on a European tour.[7]

In 2018, the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and Ahmad Sarmast were awarded the Polar Music Prize.[13]

The 2018 Polar Music Prize is awarded to the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) and Dr Ahmad Sarmast, its visionary founder and director, in recognition of how this inspirational organization has used the power of music to transform young people’s lives. ... In 2008, Dr. Sarmast, the son of a famous conductor, returned to Kabul, at great personal risk, to establish ANIM. ANIM, a decade on, flourishes and is committed to preserving Afghanistan’s rich musical heritage and to providing a safe learning environment to hundreds of boys and girls.[13]

References
  1. Gallagher, Kimball. "Dr. Ahmad Sarmast on the Afghanistan National Institute of Music". Notes on the Road. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  2. Ross, Alex (March 4, 2013). "Border Crossings East meets West at Carnegie Hall". The New Yorker. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  3. Ryan, Rosanna (August 7, 2015). "Emma Ayres on her new adventure: teaching music in Afghanistan". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  4. Coren, Anna (September 21, 2012). "Music school strikes chord with Afghan street kids". CNN. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  5. Scherer, Barrymore Laurence (Feb 11, 2013). "Making Music Against the Odds". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  6. Rasmussen, Sune Engel (2015-05-25). "He was the saviour of Afghan music. Then a Taliban bomb took his hearing". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  7. Haider, Arwa (December 6, 2018). "Ahmad Zahir: The enduring appeal of the Afghan Elvis". BBC - Culture. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  8. Khalil, Shaimaa (10 November 2015). "Afghanistan's first female conductor". BBC News. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  9. Bezhan, Frud (August 9, 2015). "The Day Afghan Music Didn't Die". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  10. Khalil, Shaimaa (November 10, 2015). "Afghanistan's first female conductor". BBC. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  11. "Girls find their Place in Afghanistan's Music Institute". World Bank. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  12. "Afghan woman defies odds to pursue her dream". Deutsche Welle. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  13. "The Afghanistan National Institute of Music". Polar Music Prize. Retrieved 21 January 2021.

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