The New University in Exile Consortium Invites You to Experience the Art of Afghanistan
The New University in Exile Consortium (NUIEC) invites you to an evening with the Fanoos Ensemble on Friday, November 10, 2023, 7:30-10:00PM EST. The ensemble is known for their performances of original Afghan works enriched with their original improvisations on traditional Afghan and western classical instruments, and their repertoire includes Afghan folk songs, traditional ghazals based on the poetry of Rumi and others, and hits from the legendary singer, Ahmad Zahir. Composed of renowned musician Ahmad Fanoos and his two accomplished sons, Elham Fanoos and Mehran Fanoos, the Fanoos Ensemble works to unite people and cultures from all over the world through their music, and emphasize Afghanistan’s rich cultural and musical heritage. After five years apart, the ensemble reunited in the U.S. in December 2021 and made their U.S. debut in the spring of 2022, one year after the flight to freedom from the Taliban.
Ahmad Fanoos is one of this year’s inaugural fellows in the University in Exile for Afghan Artists, a collaboration between NUIEC and the Artistic Freedom Initiative, which is committed to bringing 10 endangered Afghan artists on 1-year fellowships to the programs and divisions in the arts at The New School. Fanoos, a renowned Afghan vocalist, harmonium and tabla player teacher, and composer is known for singing in the Ghazal style (a form of poetic recitation which originated in 6th-century Arabic verse and is popular in India and Pakistan). He is being hosted by the Mannes School of Music in the College of Performing Arts at The New School.
NUIEC, an expanding group of universities and colleges, believes that the academic community has both the responsibility and the capacity to assist persecuted and endangered scholars everywhere and to protect the intellectual capital that is jeopardized when universities and scholars are under assault. Since 2021, the Consortium has expanded its mission to include finding safe academic placements for scholars, students and artists, primarily from Afghanistan, where the need is enormous. Today Consortium member institutions are hosting more than 30 threatened Afghan scholars and 900 Afghan students, a majority of whom are women.