NEC Announces Live Streaming of Two ANIM Events, 2/14

New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) proudly announces the live streaming of two events at NEC's Pierce Hall on Thursday, February 14, 2013, during the Afghanistan National Institute of Music's (ANIM's) NEC residency, adding a global element to the Academy's debut US tour. The two events: a panel discussion on launching a music school featuring ANIM founder Dr. Ahamad Sarmast (the first Afghan with a doctorate in music), and a lecture performance on the Academy's native music and music traditions provide a rare opportunity to hear about these topics from the Academy's founder, faculty and musicians.

What does it take to bring a music school into existence from the ground up? ANIM founder and director Dr. Ahmad Sarmast is joined by ANIM's Afghan and expatriate faculty -- including recent NEC graduate Derek Beckvold -- in a panel discussion moderated by Tanya Kalmanovitch, Contemporary Improvisation, to discuss the on-the-ground reality of music education in Afghanistan, and how ANIM came to be.

Following the in-depth discussion, NEC Intercultural Institute director Robert Labaree presents an enlightening lecture and performance on Afghan and Indo-Afghan music traditions, with Mohammed Murad Sarkhosh (ghichak), Irfan Muhammad Khan (sarod), and Muhammad Ehsan Arfan (sitar), joined by ANIM students.

Afghanistan National Institute of Music Residency at NEC
Thursday February 14, 2013 Events

2:00 p.m. in Pierce Hall, NEC
Panel Discussion: Building a Music School in Kabul
Tanya Kalmonovitch, moderator
Panel Members include:
Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, ANIM founder/director
Derek Beckvold, William Harvey, Norma Ferreira, and Irfan Khan, ANIM Afghan and expatriate faculty members
Click on the link below to view the live video streaming of this event:
http://necmusic.edu/afghanistan-national-institute-music-1

4:00 p.m. in Pierce Hall, NEC
Lecture/Performance: Afghan and Indo-Afghan Music and Music Traditions
Robert Labaree, NEC Intercultural Institute director, host
Mohammed Murad Sarkhosh (ghichak); Irfan Muhammad Khan (sarod);
Muhammad Ehsan Arfan (sitar)
with ANIM students
Click on the link below to view the live video streaming of this event:
http://necmusic.edu/afghanistan-national-institute-music-0

(For those in the Boston area, after the two live streamed events, NEC presents an 8:00 p.m. concert in Williams Hall featuring a mix of local and international musicians (ANIM small ensembles; Audrey Wright, violin; Jerry Leake, table; Edan MacAdam-Somer, NEC faculty member; Community Music Centre of Boston students and NEC students) performing Western classical, Indo-Afghan and world music. All events are free and open to the public. Click on link below for complete program information of this non-streamed event:

http://necmusic.edu/afghanistan-national-institute-music

The residency at NEC is part of ANIM's first tour of the United States (February 2 - 17, 2013. The 46 student musicians (ages 10 - 21) along with 16 Afghan and expatriate faculty members, are led by ANIM founder and director Ahmad Sarmast in the most extended cultural exchange opportunity of the tour. Included in the tour was a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. on February 7, as well as an upcoming performance at Carnegie Hall in New York on February 12.

In addition to the above events, while in residence at NEC, the Afghan musicians will take part in rehearsal and performances with NEC students, and participate in instrumental masterclasses, workshops, and small ensemble coaching sessions. They will attend the Feb. 13 performance by the NEC Philharmonia conducted by Associate Director of Orchestras David Loebel; take part in a panel discussion on teaching music in international settings; and get acquainted with their Boston counterparts at mealtimes and during breaks. In addition, leaders of the two schools will engage in round table discussions focused on administration, partnership opportunities, and development.

The NEC residency is being coordinated by Tanya Kalmanovitch, Contemporary Improvisation, and Robert Labaree, NEC Intercultural Institute. Kalmanovitch has returned to ANIM several times in recent years, to teach during the annual Winter Music Academy.

The tour is presented by the Ministry of Education of Afghanistan with funding from the Ministry, the United States Embassy in Kabul, the World Bank, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

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