The Music in Defiance of the Taliban

Karren Alenier

Imagine a country where music is not allowed. No Taylor Swift. No Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart. Of course, no Virgil Thompson and Gertrude Stein’s  Four Saints in Three Acts. Not even a mother’s lullaby to her child. Thanks to the Taliban, Afghanistan is silent, a place where no one dares hum, let alone sing or play a musical instrument. On August 8, 2024, members of the Afghan Youth and Zohra Orchestras, ages 14 to 22, performed exuberantly and impressively under the baton of the young but already seasoned conductor Tiago Moreira da Silva in the Concert Hall of the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington, DC. The Steiny Road Poet attended this concert with several Afghan women. This free concert was originally scheduled for the informal Millennium Stage, but because the demand for tickets was so large, the approximately 90-minute show was moved to the Concert Hall which seats 2,465. The program began with the all-female Zohra Orchestra. At first glance, this orchestra, as well as the next, which invited in the young men of the Afghan Youth Orchestra, seemed populated by the usual string, wind, brass, and percussion sections. However, planted behind the strings were more exotic instruments used in musical performances from Afghanistan and nearby countries, such as Pakistan and India, including the rubãb, sitar , and tabla. Each composition brought a special message. The Zohra began with “Zendagi,” a piece adapted from an Indian song  by the legendary Afghan musician Ahmad Zahir (also known as the Afghan Elvis, whose early death at 33 was rumored to be an assassination). Zendagi’s poetry by Abul Qasem Lahuti speaks to solidarity and freedom. The Afghan Youth Orchestra evacuated in 2021 when Kabul fell to the Taliban, and they now live in Portugal. So, this performance was an act of defiance. Slipped in among pieces celebrating the bittersweetness of marriage “Pa Bismillah,”  the love of the Afghan landscape and its politically turbulent culture “Sar-zamen-e-man,” and the flight of the young musicians from Kabul to Portugal “Saudade de Afegahistão” was Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5. With the addition of Afghan traditional instruments, the arrangement built a new musical language for the familiar energetic dance. New original works included “An Afghan in New York” which incorporated melodies from the Pashto song “Pa Loyo Ghro.” The film and music  of “An American in Paris” inspired this composition composed by Ustad Din Mohammad Zakhail and arranged by Moreira da Silva. The audience was heavily populated by Afghans, including refugees and families with children. Along with thunderous applause, they filled the hall with singing and rhythmic clapping. Steiny’s Afghan friends explained pertinent details about the instruments, music, and traditions associated with what was played. For example, the Afghan rubãb, a traditional bowed, stringed instrument was prominently featured in many of the compositions. Steiny reciprocally told her Afghan seatmates about the accomplishments of American opera soprano Renée Fleming who contributed to this program by singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. The Afghan Youth Orchestra has 45 members, of which approximately 25 traveled to Washington, DC. These musicians were augmented by such Washington-DC-based organizations as DC Youth orchestra, Washington Musical Pathways Initiative, and Levine School of Music. The Afghan Youth Orchestra also gave a similar concert at Carnegie Hall in New York on August 7, 2024. Prominent sponsors for this exceptional concert included Dr. Ahmad Sarmast who founded and directs the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, Yo-Yo Ma of the Silk Road Project, Renée Fleming, World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Arts & Health, and Tuti Media of Washington, DC, which showcases artists speaking Farsi. This was one of the most impressive concerts Steiny has ever attended. Offering so much variety, it was a world class musical event drawing together folk and classical styles in traditional and new works emanating from Afghanistan and other countries. Most importantly, this concert spoke to the passion of a people deprived of a vital cultural expression.