Afghanistan National Institute of Music

New England Conservatory, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, presents this event as part of a residency by students and faculty from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music.

Inaugurated in 2010, the Afghanistan National Institute of Music was founded by Dr. Ahmad Sarmast to rebuild music education in Afghanistan after years of war and repression. Integral to the school’s music program is a high-quality academic education, ensuring that students are able to achieve success at the highest level internationally as musicians, music educators, academics and specialists. The institute, located in Kabul, is committed to providing a dynamic, challenging, and safe learning environment for all students, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or social circumstances. ANIM focuses on supporting the most disadvantaged group in Afghan society – the orphans and street-working children – by helping them attain a vocation that will allow them to reach their full potential, while contributing to their emotional health. Through the provision of an internationally accredited curriculum, graduates will have the skills, creative vision and confidence to contribute to the artistic, social, and cultural life of Afghanistan and to the revival of Afghan music traditions. ANIM is the model for future music schools to be built throughout Afghanistan.

Now embarked on its first international tour, ANIM comes to NEC to showcase its students and programs and to learn and be inspired by the work of the Conservatory and to foster international exchange.

Continuing a full afternoon and evening of public events, NEC Intercultural Institute director Robert Labaree presides at a performance and lecture on Afghan and Indo-Afghan music traditions by Mohammed Murad Sarkhosh (ghichak), Irfan Muhammad Khan (sarod), Muhammad Ehsan Arfan (sitar), joined by ANIM students.