Living Their Dreams

Amidst the sounds of guns and bombs has emerged another sound that has been heard all over the world. Who would have thought that a group of girls would rise like the phoenix from the ashes of a war ridden country like Afghanistan and spread the message of peace through music? About five years ago, an exceptional all-female orchestra was formed in Kabul. Afghanistan is a nation where only a few years back, music had been outlawed and women were barred from taking part in any social activity. Now, this group of women known as Zohra, is travelling across the globe and performing at international events.

Ahmad Sarmast, an exiled musicologist, during his time in Australia kept negotiating the rebuilding of music education in his nation with the Afghan Government. He is on a mission to restore his country's rich music tradition decimated by decades of war. When he returned to Kabul, he established Afghanistan National Institute of Music in 2010. This music institute works under the patronage of the Ministry of Education. In 2011, ANIM unveiled its Afghan Youth Orchestra, comprising boys and girls. Later, in 2015, an all-female orchestra was launched by the same platform. An all-female orchestra was an idea that came from the female students he taught.

It was named Zohra - after the Persian goddess of music as 30% of students studying music at ANIM are girls. The group started with less than 10 girls but now over 30 play in the orchestra. The girls who became a part of Zohra are the first women in their families, communities and even country, to study music properly in over 30 years. The girls of the Zohra orchestra come from provinces across Afghanistan. They have traveled to Kabul and now live there to study music at the Institute

In Zohra’s ranks are the country’s first female conductors, Negin Khpalwak and Zarifa Adiba. The orchestra rehearses twice a week. The frequency of these rehearsals increases before a concert or performance. There is an environment of unity and love among the orchestra members. The older students help out the younger ones, and they also choose their own repertoire. The orchestra plays Afghan and Western music and is conducted by specialist teachers and students.

The girls have performed at various events in Kabul but their international journey started when they were invited to perform at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos in 2017. Getting to Davos was not easy. Seeking permission from families of the girls and the government to travel abroad was a herculean task but Ahmad Sarmast achieved this with international and national support.