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Feature: Bardic Divas Perform at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris on 15 November 2008

Five "Bardic Divas" performed at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris on 15 November 2008.With the support of the Aga Khan Music Initiative, five female singers (Les Bardes d''Asie centrale) brought Central Asian music to the centre of Paris. Tawas Annamyradova, from Turkmenistan, sang and performed with the dotar; Uljan Baibusynova, from Kazakhstan (voice and dombra; pictured at left) performed with fellow Kazakhs Ardak Issatayeva (voice and dombra) and Nadira Pirmatova (voice and dotar). Zalina Kasymova and Gulbara Baigashkaeva, from the Kyrgyz Republic, performed on kyl qiyak, komuz and jews harps. For more information, please see the Théâtre de la Ville website.

Feature: AKMICA Musicians in Collaborations with the Kronos Quartet in London and San Francisco

Alim and Fargana Qasimov, tradition bearers of the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia.The Aga Khan Music Initiative and the San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet have inaugurated a pioneering musical collaboration that brings the quartet together with leading musicians from Azerbaijan and Afghanistan to compose, arrange, and perform new music rooted in Central Asian tradition. In 2008, the AKMICA-Kronos collaboration produced two music programmes:

Kronos Quartet with the Alim Qasimov Ensemble at the Barbican in London, featuring works commissioned by the Music Initiative for the Kronos Quartet and the Alim Qasimov Ensemble, which premiered at the Ramadan Nights festival at the Barbican on 26 September 2008 (for more information on the London concert, please see the review and more information on Alim and Fargana Qasimov);

Kronos Quartet with Homayun Sakhi at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Bay Area Now Festival in San Francisco, featuring compositions by Sakhi for Afghan rubab, tabla, and string quartet, 2 August 2008 (for a review of that performance, please click here).

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.