Education Report - Afghan Youth Orchestra Performs in US

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Afghanistan's	Ahmad	Embassy	From	Hall	Learning	Massachusetts	Music	Special	State
States	They	a	also	are	broadcast	by	change	founded	in
is	of	play	the	time	to	youth

VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report in English. The Afghan Youth Orchestra performed in the United in February. Forty-eight young musicians traveled from Kabul to at some of the most famous American music halls. performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington and Carnegie in New York City. The last stop was Boston, , where they performed at the New England Conservatory of . The musicians perform versions of Western classical compositions and traditional Afghan music. Violins and trumpets played along with rubab and a sitar in a performance of "Bolero" Maurice Ravel. The State Department and the United States in Kabul funded most of the trip. Secretary of John Kerry called the young musicians "ambassadors of peace." former Taliban rulers banned music when they took power 1996. Also, under the Taliban, girls were not permitted be educated after the age of 8. Today, music studied and played freely in Afghanistan. The musicians in orchestra are male and female, and between the ages 10 and 22. Most are orphans or were homeless. Sarmast started the orchestra. A few years ago he the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul. The orchestra developed from that school. Ahmad Sarmast says he very pleased with the accomplishments in such a short . He says the idea of the trip was to the way people view Afghanistan. The children, he says, ambassadors of Afghan culture whose efforts reflect the changes their country in the last ten years. For VOA English, I'm Carolyn Presutti. (Adapted from a radio program 21Feb2013)

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