Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia

The Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia was established in 2000 by His Highness the Aga Khan with the aim of assisting in the preservation of Central Asia's musical heritage by ensuring its transmission to a new generation of artists and audiences, both inside the region and beyond its borders. It is an initiative of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network.

AKMICA supports a group of musical tradition-bearers who are revitalising important musical repertories throughout Central Asia by transmitting their traditions to students. Formerly inaugurated in 2003, the Programme operates in Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The programme is based on a traditional process of apprenticeship known as ustad-shagird, in which master musicians provide intensive instruction rooted in oral transmission of a repertory.

Throughout Central Asia, AKMICA-sponsored tradition-bearers work both in self-initiated music centres and schools, and within guild-like networks that encourage collegiality and communication among independent master teachers. As part of their mission of promoting musical transmission, tradition-bearer centres work to develop new materials and methodologies for teaching traditional music, involve students in ethnographic documentation of local traditions, and work toward building appreciation of authentic traditional music among audiences in Central Asia. AKMICA provides administrative and financial support to centres and schools, and in some cases, a stipend to students. Support is renewed on the basis of an annual review with the longterm goal of helping centres, schools, and guilds to become self-supporting.

The Music Touring and Festivals Programme was created to celebrate Central Asian musical traditions in regions where they are little known, and integrate leading exponents of these traditions into the global network of music presenting institutions. The Programme toured Europe in 2002, visiting France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

...
Wikipedia