The Orchestra That Plays For Freedom

The Zohra Orchestra, also known as the Afghan Women's Orchestra

and Ensemble Zohra, is Afghanistan's first all-female orchestra, named

after the music goddess in Persian writings. Just picking up a musical

instrument is an act of courage for Zohra, Afghanistan’s first all-woman

orchestra. At 18, Negin, the leader of the orchestra, became her

country’s first woman lead conductor. “I had heard music on the radio,

but I had never seen a girl play,” she says. For three years she played

the sarod and then learned piano before picking up the baton.

All cultures have a tradition of music. Afghanistan’s tradition goes back

a thousand years. But, starting with the invasion by Soviet troops in

1979 and even after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, music was banned because

of its ‘corrupting influence’. A year later, the all-women’s orchestra named after Zohra, a Persian goddess of music, was born with just six girls.

Today, the 26 young women who are it’s members, the youngest just

13-years-old, continue to defy social norms, some play without their

families’ approval or even knowledge.

Nazira had never seen a musical instrument. She is her country’s first cello player.

Marjan used to sell chewing gum on the streets. Her relatives are furious that she’s

learning music. But, she says, she wants to be a ‘good teacher for the future of our girls’. They are the first in their families to study music in 35 years, or get any education at all, or even leave their villages let alone their country.

The Zohra Orchestra