“Like many teenagers, 19-year-old Negin Ikhpolwak from Kunar in eastern Afghanistan loves music, but few people of her age have battled as fiercely to pursue their passion in the face of family hostility and threats. Playing instruments was banned outright during the period of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and even today, many conservative Muslims frown on most forms of music. Negin took her first steps learning the piano in secret, before eventually revealing her activity to her father. He encouraged her, but the reaction from the rest of her conservative Pashtun family was hostile. Now living in an orphanage in the Afghan capital of Kabul, Negin leads the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women at the Afghanistan National Institute for Music that plays both Western and Afghan musical instruments. When she went home on a recent visit, her uncles and brothers threatened to beat her for a performing appearance on television, and she had to return to Kabul the next day. “Compared to women outside Afghanistan, we feel we are in a cage”, she said.

In a country notorious internationally for harsh restrictions on women in most areas of life, Negin's story highlights a double challenge. “The formation of the orchestra is an achievement in itself”, said Ahmad Naser Sarmast, a musicologist who returned home from Australia after the fall of the Taliban to help found the National Institute for Music in 2010. While children at the school have the support of their parents, they often face pressure from their wider family as well as from religious authorities, he said. “The bravery of the girls sitting in the orchestra and the leadership of a young female conductor is an achievement for Afghanistan”, he said. Some of the women say their relatives are proud of their achievements, but they face suspicion from others, as well as intimidation. The dangers awaiting performers in Afghanistan were brutally highlighted in 2014, when Sarmast was nearly killed by a suicide bomber who blew himself up during a show at a French-run school in Kabul. He has not been discouraged, however. The formation of the girls' orchestra was the best response to extremists, he said, adding that the school was trying to help Negin continue her education, despite the family problems”. – Ahmad Masood and Mirwais Harooni via Reuters



Mina Salarzai, a member of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, holds her trumpet at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 9, 2016. Playing instruments was banned under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and even today, many conservative Muslims frown on most forms of music. Living in an orphanage in the capital, Kabul, 19-year-old Negin Ikhpolwak leads an ensemble of 35 women that plays both Western and Afghan musical instruments. In a country notorious internationally for harsh restrictions on women in most areas of life, Negin's story highlights a double challenge. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





Sahar Malikzai, a member of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, practises at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 9, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





Negin Ekhpulwak, leader of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, conducts during a rehearsal at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 9, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





Members of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, attend a rehearsal at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 4, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





Mina Salarzai, a member of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, practises at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 9, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





Fakria Azizi, a member of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, practises during a session, at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 4, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





Negin Ekhpulwak, leader of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, practises on a piano at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 9, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





A musical score is seen during a rehearsal session of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 9, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





A member of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, plays for fun as she walks around at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 9, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





Ahmad Naser Sarmast, head of Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, speaks to members of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 4, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





A music student looks inside the class of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 4, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





A member of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, practises during a rehearsal at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 4, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





Members of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, bring instruments to a class before a rehearsal at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 4, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)





A member of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, prepares for a rehearsal at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 4, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)