Concert In Solidarity With Afghan Musicians Will Feature A 100+ Piece Volunteer Orchestra
The concert seeks to raise awareness about the devastating situation Afghan artists are facing.
In August 2021, less than two weeks after pianist and composer Arson Fahim '26 left his native Afghanistan to study composition at New England Conservatory, the Taliban took over his homeland and banned music.
“I can't really describe how I felt,” he said, “but it felt like an urge to scream and tell people that there are people who are being killed right now for making music.” Fahim made music in response, by gathering volunteer artists to perform and express solidarity with Afghan musicians. His third Concert in Solidarity with Afghan Musicians takes place on Saturday, March 14 in NEC's Jordan Hall. The 8 p.m. performance is free but tickets are required.
The concert seeks to raise awareness about the devastating situation Afghan artists are facing while making a statement of defiance, resilience, and hope. An all-volunteer, 100+ member orchestra featuring musicians primarily from the NEC and more than a dozen featured guest Afghan musicians perform arrangements of Afghan pop and folk music alongside new music. 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.
The program highlights commissioned world premieres by Afghan composers that capture the vitality of Afghan rhythms and the unique color of the rubab. “Every piece on the program has been commissioned for this occasion and will be a premiere — with all of them being arrangements of Afghan folk/popular songs, or works by Afghan composers,” Fahim said. “This includes two very special pieces for which we commissioned traditional musicians living underground in Afghanistan right now to secretly record themselves improvising, and then worked with composers to turn these recordings into orchestral works. It is music written in the face of death, literally.”
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.
In addition to the concert, NEC's Contemporary Musical Arts Department will co-present workshops and a jam session, and NEC's Intercultural Institute will present a panel discussion in which visiting Afghan musicians reflect on bimusicality, representation, and challenges and rewards of intercultural performance. The panel will explore how artists move between musical worlds while navigating the risks of exoticism in global and Western concert contexts.
Workshops, Jam Session & Panel Discussion
Thursday, March 12, 10 a.m.-noon in Eben Jordan Ensemble Room, workshop with Qais Essar (rubab) and Hamid Habib Zada (tabla) followed by a jam session.
Thursday, March 12, noon-1:30 p.m. in Williams Hall, workshop with singer/songwriter/women's rights activist Elaha Soroor presented for Eden MacAdam-Somer's Women and Music class.
Friday, March 13, 1-3 p.m. in Burnes Hall, panel discussion moderated by the Intercultural Institute's Director, Mehmet Ali Sanlikol and featuring conductor and researcher Dr. Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey; Emmy Award–winning Afghan composer Milad Yousufi; world-renowned rubab virtuoso Qais Essar; and NEC student Arson Fahim.
This iteration of Fahim's initial vision to represent, support, and educate people about the situation in his country marks the biggest event to date, made possible by support from a New England Conservatory Entrepreneurial Musicianship Grant, Goethe-Institut Afghanistan Cultural Fund, The Longy School of Music of Bard College, Dr. Cayenna Pochione-Bailey, and Cuatro Puntos.
“Arson's project was one of those clear projects that was an easy yes,” said Ryan Mewhorter, managing director of NEC's Entrepreneurial Musicianship Department. “In both Arson's written materials and pitch, he told a story of how impactful this project would be for Afghan musicians who were living in exile from their home country because they couldn't do what they love most, make music. Not only was the original concert impressive, but also the culminating workshops that Arson was implementing into various NEC courses by collaborating with faculty and the artists he was bringing in for this.”
While the Concert in Solidarity with Afghan Musicians brings attention to the dire situation for artists in Afghanistan, it is also a celebration. “What characterizes Afghan music, culture, and spirit,” Fahim said, “is the joy. Despite almost five decades of endless war, tragedy, and loss, somehow the music is so full of joy. There is so much optimism in it — the rhythms are infectious, and the melodies sound like there is nothing in the world to worry about. I miss how back home every little thing would be used as an excuse to celebrate and dance. It's inspiring."
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