Music in Afghanistan is perhaps best known, particularly in the West, for falling silent under the Taliban. But since 2001, musicians within and outside the country have taken steps to revive Afghanistan's unique musical tradition. One of them is Ahmad Sarmast, who heads the National Institute of Music.
Afghanistan's Institute of Music
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Ahmad Sarmast is the head of Afghanistan's National Institute of Music. He survived a suicide attack at the French Cultural Center in Kabul last year.
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The institute instructs some 210 students from their first note through their graduation as seasoned musicians.
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Negin Khalpak, 14, conducts around 35 students in the institute's orchestra.
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The students can choose their own path -- either Western classical or Afghan traditional music.