Rabab virtuoso keeps Afghan music alive across the globe

LONDON -- Homayoun Sakhi closes his eyes and runs his fingers along the long neck of his wooden instrument encrusted with mother-of-pearl.

"I feel like I have my Afghanistan in my hand," said Sakhi, one of the world's most renowned performers of the country's national instrument, the rabab.

He is jet lagged after flying in from California to perform at London's Barbican concert hall to raise funds for emergency medicine and education in his homeland.

Along with the growing humanitarian crisis, Afghanistan's rich musical culture is under threat following the collapse of the government in mid-August.

Many musicians have fled the country.

"Right now we don't have music in Afghanistan," said Sakhi.

"It's really difficult because there's no concerts, there's no music, and it's very difficult [for musicians] to be without any money and without a job."

"That's why they're trying to go somewhere to play."

The rabab dates back thousands of years and has enjoyed a revival thanks to Sakhi, who is known as a musical innovator and has developed a more modern playing style.

BBC Music Magazine called him "one of the greatest performers" of the instrument.

Born in Kabul, he left Afghanistan with his family in 1992, in the chaotic aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal, and moved to Pakistan.

He later settled in Fremont, California, which is known for its large Afghan community, and has launched an academy teaching the rabab.

"Each time I'm playing, I'm home, I feel like I'm in Afghanistan," he said.

Keeping Afghan music alive

Music, including pop, was allowed a free rein during the past two decades in Afghanistan, with local television even showing a "Pop Idol" talent contest equivalent.

But following the collapse of the government, traditional Afghan music now relies on devotees overseas.

The "Songs of Hope" concert at the Barbican on Saturday (January 22) was organised by Afghanistan International TV.

The London-based channel was set up by Volant media, which also runs a Persian-language expatriate channel for Iranians.

It will screen a documentary about the concert in March.

In the first half, Sakhi plays classical Afghan pieces, followed by folk music that gets the audience clapping along.

He performs with UK-based virtuoso Shahbaz Hussain on tabla and Iranian musician Adib Rostami on the kamancheh, a bowed string instrument.

"I had the idea to do the concert -- that was the only thing I can do as a musician," said Rostami, who is a multimedia journalist working for Volant Media and organised the event.

"As we know, now music is banned in Afghanistan, but they cannot ban this from the people around the world."

"We have to try as musicians, as music lovers, to find a way to keep this cultural heritage for the future".

The current situation for musicians is like being "back in the 1990s", he said.

"Again, you cannot be a musician in Afghanistan. As far as I know, most of the musicians... are trying to get out of the country."

Musicians fleeing

A group of students and teachers from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) in Kabul arrived as refugees in Portugal in December.

The musicians fled Kabul to Qatar in October before being resettled in Portugal.

Now that they are safe and settled in Lisbon, reopening the school is a key objective, said Ahmad Naser Sarmast, director and founder of the ANIM.

"The commitment is to reopen this school. We have a mission [for the] music of Afghanistan to continue," he said.

Afghanistan's first all-female orchestra, Zohra, set up in 2016 and named after a Persian goddess of music, has moved to Qatar.

In 2017, the group catapulted onto the world stage with a performance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.