STOCKHOLM: An Afghan music institute that has empowered girls in thewar-torn country and metal pioneers Metallica on Wednesday shared the PolarMusic Prize, often called music’s Nobel.
The laureates will each receive one million Swedish kronor (101,000 euros,$125,000) at a televised gala in Stockholm on June 14 in the presence ofKing Carl XVI Gustaf.
The Afghan National Institute of Music was honoured along with its founder,Ahmad Sarmast, who started the school in 2010 in a rare coeducationalinitiative in the war-torn country.
The institute, which teaches both Afghan and Western music, helped generatethe country’s first all-female orchestra which performed last yar at theWorld Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Sarmast, who has faced substantial risk in a country where both music andgirls’ education was banned under the repressive 1996-2001 Taliban regime,said he was “very excited, honoured and privileged” to win the prize.
“We believe that our two recipients, although from very contrasting worlds,exemplify the mission of the Polar Music Prize, and that is to honourmusicians and music organisations whose work has made a difference topeople’s lives,” Marie Ledin, managing director of the award, said in astatement.
“Metallica is loved and admired by millions of hard rock fans across theglobe,” she said.
Metallica is one of the most influential bands in heavy metal, helpingbring the angry and aggressive music to the mainstream.
Sarmast and the music institute, meanwhile, have worked “to restore the joyand power of music to children’s lives,” she said.
Metallica is one of the most influential bands in heavy metal, helpingbring the angry and aggressive music to the mainstream and preserving anavid fan base for decades.
Lars Ulrich, the California band’s Danish-born drummer, called the PolarMusic Prize “a great validation of everything that Metallica has done overthe last 35 years.”
“At the same time, we feel like we’re in our prime with a lot of good yearsahead of us,” Ulrich said of the band, which released its 10th album,“Hardwired… to Self-Destruct” in late 2016.
The Polar Music Prize was established in 1989 by the late Stig Anderson,best known as the manager of Swedish pop superstars ABBA, and selects twolaureates each year.
The prize’s stated goal is to “break down musical boundaries by bringingtogether people from all the different worlds of music.”
Past laureates have included Sting, Bob Dylan, Bjork, Sonny Rollins andRavi Shankar. – APP / AFP