"Don't just make a link. Build a relationship. You are feeding an entire nation."
Ali, student, National Academy of Performing Arts, Karachi, Pakistan, August 19, 2009, following Cultures in Harmony concert
Performing with Zoe Viccaji in Karachi. Photo: Aliyah Ashraf
This project sent William Harvey to Islamabad and Karachi, Pakistan, from July 22 to August 5, 2010, to sustain the relationships built during our last project in Pakistan in 2009 and build new relationships between musicians in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The project as a whole explores music's ability to build multilateral relationships between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States, through the universal language of music.
In Islamabad, William collaborated with rapper Adil Omar and sarangi player Taimur Khan to perform in a benefit concert at Kuch Khaas for the sponsorship program at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM). This sponsorship program identifies orphans and street-working kids in Kabul with the assistance of Aschiana. The children's families are paid a small amount of money per month in order to make up for the income the children lose by going to school instead of working on the streets.
At Cultures in Harmony's benefit concerts in Islamabad at Kuch Khaas and with Zoe Viccaji and Bell at The Second Floor in Karachi, we raised enough funds to sponsor two children and ensure that for one year, they can attend ANIM and learn music instead of working on the streets.
In Islamabad, William also performed with the rock band Irtaash before several thousand screaming fans. Additionally, he collaborated with numerous musicians at Nysa Lounge in a performance at which Natasha Paracha, Miss Pakistan World 2008, spoke about the importance of this project.
Lecturing at Aga Khan University in Karachi.
In Karachi, William lectured about "Music and Medicine in Regions of Conflict" at Aga Khan University. He gave a violin-piano duo recital with pianist Usman Anees. At the National Academy of Performing Arts, he rehearsed with teachers and students in preparation for a concert that was canceled due to violence. This residency included discussions about building a closer relationship between NAPA and ANIM. The president of NAPA and the dean of the medical college at Aga Khan University both gave William letters of congratulations to convey to ANIM back in Kabul. At the Children's Academy of Performing Arts, William gave a violin master class.
Pakistani media covered the project in many ways, including this article in Dawn, an article in AOL News that appeared on their front page internationally, a feature in Instep Magazine, and this article in The News. Thank you to Junaid Malik for coordinating activities in Islamabad, and to Leena Ahmed for coordinating in Karachi.
The message of the whole project is that whatever the media may say about relations among Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States, the people of these three countries can build a relationship based on their shared desire for peace and dignity and their shared ability to communicate in the universal language of music.
Performing at Kuch Khaas in Islamabad.
