Performances + Events
Concert in Solidarity with Afghan Musicians
Jordan Hall
Free - Ticket Required
In-Person Event
Open to the Public
Streaming
Since its collapse into Taliban control in 2021, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has plunged to new depths. In addition to many other oppressive restrictions — most notably their crackdown on women’s rights — the regime has effectively banned all forms of music within the country. After shutting down the country’s only music school and turning it into a military outpost overnight, they began destroying every musical instrument they could find and persecuting musicians who were caught, sometimes by public execution. Since then, Afghanistan has fallen silent, as musicians have been forced into hiding in fear of their lives or have escaped the country if they were fortunate enough to have the resources.
Organized by Afghan pianist, composer, and NEC student Arson Fahim ’26 — who left Kabul mere days before the collapse to pursue his musical studies in the US — the Concert in Solidarity with Afghan Musicians is an effort to raise awareness about the devastating situation that Afghan artists are facing, and to be a statement of defiance, resilience, and hope. The concert brings together an all-volunteer orchestra featuring musicians from the NEC community and beyond, alongside over a dozen featured guest Afghan musicians, including traditional instrumentalists.
Together, they will perform a program featuring arrangements of Afghan pop and folk music alongside works by Afghan composers, with every piece newly commissioned for this concert and receiving its world premiere. These are works that capture everything from the vitality of Afghan rhythms and the unique color of the rubab, to unyielding joy and profound intensity. This includes two pieces based on recordings of improvisations that were commissioned from traditional instrumentalists living underground in Afghanistan right now. It is music made in the face of death, in the most literal sense. Among others, featured artists include Qais Essar, one of the leading performers of the rubab, Afghanistan’s national instrument; Elaha Soroor, a beloved Afghan vocalist and women’s rights activist; and Milad Yousufi, an Emmy Award–winning composer who will guest-conduct his own arrangement of the Attan, Afghanistan’s national dance — currently forbidden within the country.
This concert is made possible with generous support from Goethe-Institut Afghanistan Cultural Fund, The Longy School of Music of Bard College, The New England Conservatory Entrepreneurial Musician Grant, Dr. Cayenna Pochione-Bailey, and Cuatro Puntos.
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The live stream of this event is available to NEC Community members only. To watch the stream, please click the “Streaming Access” button at the top of the page and enter the NEC Community streaming password on the video window labeled “NEC-Produced Stream” when prompted.
Organized by Afghan pianist, composer, and NEC student Arson Fahim ’26 — who left Kabul mere days before the collapse to pursue his musical studies in the US — the Concert in Solidarity with Afghan Musicians is an effort to raise awareness about the devastating situation that Afghan artists are facing, and to be a statement of defiance, resilience, and hope. The concert brings together an all-volunteer orchestra featuring musicians from the NEC community and beyond, alongside over a dozen featured guest Afghan musicians, including traditional instrumentalists.
Together, they will perform a program featuring arrangements of Afghan pop and folk music alongside works by Afghan composers, with every piece newly commissioned for this concert and receiving its world premiere. These are works that capture everything from the vitality of Afghan rhythms and the unique color of the rubab, to unyielding joy and profound intensity. This includes two pieces based on recordings of improvisations that were commissioned from traditional instrumentalists living underground in Afghanistan right now. It is music made in the face of death, in the most literal sense. Among others, featured artists include Qais Essar, one of the leading performers of the rubab, Afghanistan’s national instrument; Elaha Soroor, a beloved Afghan vocalist and women’s rights activist; and Milad Yousufi, an Emmy Award–winning composer who will guest-conduct his own arrangement of the Attan, Afghanistan’s national dance — currently forbidden within the country.
This concert is made possible with generous support from Goethe-Institut Afghanistan Cultural Fund, The Longy School of Music of Bard College, The New England Conservatory Entrepreneurial Musician Grant, Dr. Cayenna Pochione-Bailey, and Cuatro Puntos.
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The live stream of this event is available to NEC Community members only. To watch the stream, please click the “Streaming Access” button at the top of the page and enter the NEC Community streaming password on the video window labeled “NEC-Produced Stream” when prompted.
