Afghanistan National Institute of Music

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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

What is the ANIM?

February 15, 2018: Afghanistan National Institute of Music

The Nahid Ensemble of Afghan is comprised of male and female students of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM). ANIM is Afghanistan’s first institute of music where talented Afghan children regardless of their gender, social circumstances and ethnic background are trained in Afghan traditional and Western classical music, while obtaining high quality academic or core education.

ANIM has a special focus on supporting the most disadvantaged group in Afghan society; many members of the Nahid Ensemble come from host orphanages or were previously street working children and represent provinces across the country including Nuristan, Kunar, Farah, and Bamiyan.

The group has toured extensively, initially as members of the Afghanistan Youth Orchestra and the Girls Ensemble, Zohra. In 2015, the Nahid Ensemble performed at ChoirFest Middle East and received the ‘Best Regional Choir’ Award. The group also performed for the President of Afghanistan and was invited by President of Turkmenistan for a series of performances in the region.

They perform regularly around Afghanistan and in neighbouring countries.

History, aims

Polar Music Prize

ANIM provides a dynamic, challenging, and safe learning environment for all students regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religious sect, or socio-economic circumstances. We focus especially on supporting the most disadvantaged children in Afghanistan – orphans, street-working vendors and girls.

Aims

1. Assure Musical Rights

2. Transform Lives through Music

3. Revive and Preserve Afghan Music

4. Train Future Music Educators

5. Lead Cultural Diplomacy between Afghanistan and the International Community

History

Music in Afghanistan thrived for centuries; in the 1980’s alone there was a thriving pop and film music industry, hundreds of ensembles and a unique radio orchestra with Western and Afghan instruments. All of this was destroyed by the civil war in the 1990’s and its aftermath.

Between 1996 and 2001, music was completely banned in Afghanistan. In 2006, Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, then a Research Fellow at the Monash Asia Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, initiated the Revival of Afghan Music (ROAM) project. His father had been a very famous conductor and Dr. Sarmast had been in exile from his homeland for fifteen years. In April 2008 after two years of planning, and with the full support of the Ministry of Education and the Deputy Ministry for Technical Vocation and Educational Training, the vision of ANIM was taken by Dr. Ahmad Sarmast to the donor community.

With support from the World Bank, the Embassy of the USA, the German Government and many other donors, the Afghanistan National Institute of Music was inaugurated on June 20, 2010. The project “Revival of Music Education in Afghanistan” received the IMC Music Rights Award in 2009 as an encouragement to the project and a signal to the donor community.