After the Taliban’s initial withdrawal in 2010, Dr. Ahmad Sarmast founded the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) in Kabul, the first and only school of music in the country. ANIM’s mission is to provide co-educational training in Afghan traditional music and Western classical music for talented Afghan children regardless of their gender, social circumstances, and ethnic background, in addition to offering high quality general education. The performing groups at the heart of the institution’s mission include the ANIM National Symphony Orchestra, the Afghan Women’s Orchestra (AWO) “Zohra,” and the Afghan Youth Orchestra (AYO).

In 2013, ANIM’s first US tour boasted two sold-out concerts at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, attracting a wave of media attention and cross-cultural support. Following this success, ANIM played at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and Zohra toured Europe. ANIM was awarded the prestigious Polar Music Prize (2018) and the 2019 Global Pluralism Award, and has continued touring widely across Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, and elsewhere.

Threats at Home

Despite ANIM’s success, the organization and its founder were under threat in their home country. In 2014, Dr. Sarmast, the first Afghan citizen to earn a PhD in musicology, was injured by a suicide bomber. With support from the Afghan president, Dr. Sarmast recovered and ANIM forged ahead.

In March 2020, Afghanistan created new government rulings that forbade girls from singing in public. ANIM produced a video in support of women’s voices that received widespread notice as the global community followed their plight. ANIM was immediately recognized as an international symbol of freedom. To ensure ANIM’s protection during this period of growth, a nonprofit organization for the school, Friends of ANIM, was established to assist in securing funds that provided for structural reinforcement of the school, enhancing security for ANIM’s students, faculty, and staff as danger remained ever-present.

In August 2021, the Taliban marched into Kabul and began their takeover of Afghanistan. Almost immediately, they seized ANIM’s property, including the brand-new girl’s dormitory, which was repurposed for Taliban occupation. Music was forbidden. Fearing punishment or death, students, faculty, and staff of ANIM raced to hide evidence of their ties to the school. Instruments were buried in yards, all school-related communication was destroyed.

A New Era in Portugal

ANIM and its students have been based in Portugal since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, which made performing and even listening to music in Afghanistan a crime. The orchestra and school aim not only to preserve and promote Afghanistan’s rich musical heritage, but also to champion the musical and educational rights of the Afghan people, especially those denied such rights by the Taliban’s brutal crackdown on women.

Visits from artists including Yo-Yo Ma and Midori inspired ANIM to continue its mission in their new home. Since arriving in Portugal, ANIM has resumed touring across Europe and the UK. In January 2024, the Afghan Youth Orchestra embarked on a 15-day tour of Germany and Switzerland, which concluded with a performance at the opening ceremony of the UN Human Rights Council at Victoria Hall in Geneva. In March 2024, after public outcry overturned an initial visa denial, the AYO began a UK concert tour entitled “Breaking the Silence” at London’s Southbank Centre.

In August 2024, AYO returns to the States for the first time since its historic U.S. debut in 2013. AYO performs at New York’s Carnegie Hall, as the final concert of the inaugural World Orchestra Week, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.