Ahmad Sarmast, founder of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, with members of Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of women that is part of the institute.
In Monday’s (3/4) Guardian (U.K.), Robert Booth and Nadeem Badshah report, “The Home Office has been forced into a U-turn and has now granted visas to the Afghan youth orchestra for their tour of England, after its earlier refusal threw their planned tour into chaos days before it was due to begin. The band of 47 exiled musicians aged between 14 and 22 had been working for months on their repertoire for the shows, which are due to start … in London on Thursday. The Home Office had initially refused their visa applications but overturned the decision on Monday after public criticism…. The orchestra’s director, Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, said the group have performed freely in Switzerland, France, Italy and Germany among other countries since they were chased out of their home country by the Taliban…. The orchestra is now based in Portugal, where the players were granted immigration rights and are in education at Portuguese music schools … Sarmast said the Home Office had initially told them it was not convinced by the information the orchestra provided about the status of the students, saying it was vague…. The orchestra is part of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music.” Ahmad Sarmast will give an address at the League of American Orchestras’ 2024 National Conference; learn more here.
