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November 2009 Concerts in Italy and France

Tengir-Too, one of the groups performing in Paris and Rome, works to preserve Kyrgyz musical forms and genres while offering new textures and timbral colours. The Music of Central Asia concert series in Italy and France offers a panoramic presentation of the Music of Central Asia in two concert cycles designed to be complementary. Taken together, they present a broad perspective on the richness and diversity of the artistic traditions of the region. For more information, please see the programme notes.

Tickets for the Rome performance can be purchased here.

For Paris, on 27 and 28 November, please see: Asie Centrale for tickets (27 novembre 2009); Forum Musique des Nomades for tickets and Cité de la musique for more information (28 novembre 2009).

Central Asian Video Ethnographies

AKMICA's partner, Smithsonian Folkways, has a new set of video ethnographies -- short films -- on AKMICA-sponsored tradition bearers. To go to the Folkways site, please click here: Video Ethnographies.

2009 Concert Schedule

2009 will see AKMICA tradition bearers perform in famous venues from San Francisco to Paris, Newcastle to Madrid. For a full schedule of concerts, please see 2009 Concert Schedule.

Spotlight: AKMICA Musicians in Collaborations with the Kronos Quartet

For information on the collaboration between the Aga Khan Music Initiative and the San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet, please see the 2008 review and more information on Alim and Fargana Qasimov); for information on the Kronos Quartet with Homayun Sakhi, please see the review of that performance.

Music and musicians have historically played a vital role in the cultures of Central Eurasia and the Middle East. Music traditionally has served not only as entertainment, but as a way to reinforce social and moral values. Musicians have provided models of exemplary leadership, whether by bringing listeners closer to God, sustaining cultural memory through epic tales, or strengthening the bonds of community through festivity and celebration. The Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia (AKMICA) was created by His Highness the Aga Khan in 2000 to support the efforts of Central Asian musicians and communities to sustain, further develop and transmit these important musical traditions.

The Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia (AKMICA) is a programme of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC). The Trust promotes the cultural mission of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and focuses on the physical, social, cultural and economic revitalisation of communities in the Muslim world. The Trust’s programmes also include the Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, the on-line resource ArchNet, the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Museum Projects.