Aga Khan Trust for Culture

David Harrington is the founding member and first violinist of the Kronos Quartet, which has pursued a singular artistic vision, combining a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to continually re-imagining the string quartet experience.&nbsp;In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential groups of our time, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 50 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborating with many of the world&rsquo;s most intriguing and accomplished composers and performers, and commissioning more than 850 works and arrangements for string quartet. In 2011, Kronos became the only recipients of both the Polar Music Prize and the Avery Fisher Prize, two of the most prestigious awards given to musicians. The group&rsquo;s numerous awards also include a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and Musicians of the Year (2003) from Musical America.

David Harrington is the founding member and first violinist of the Kronos Quartet.

David Harrington

Jean During is a renowned ethnomusicologist whose expertise spans the musical cultures of Iran and Greater Central Asia, from Azerbaijan to the Uyghurs of Xinjiang. Recently retired from his position as Senior Research Fellow at France&rsquo;s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Jean During has published over a dozen books, dozens of articles and book chapters, and more than fifty CDs featuring his own field recordings of classical, cultivated, and spiritual musical traditions performed by leading masters.&nbsp;Jean During is himself an accomplished musician, and performs at a professional level on the Iranian tar and the Baluchi sorud. As a scholar and performer, his focus has been on the role of music in spiritual and therapeutic practices. He has also been active as an organiser of concerts, concert tours, and cultural tourism focusing on music and musicians.

Jean During is a renowned ethnomusicologist whose expertise spans the musical cultures of Iran and Greater Central Asia.

Jean During

Akram Khan is a celebrated British dancer choreographer. Born in London in 1974, Mr. Khan&rsquo;s early training was in Bengali folk dance and the north Indian classical Kathak style. He went on to train in contemporary dance at De Montfort University in Leicester and at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, from where he graduated with the highest marks ever awarded by the school.&nbsp;After a period with Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker&rsquo;s X-Group project for young choreographers in Brussels, Akram Khan returned to London and founded his own dance company in 2000.

In 2002, he created his first full-length work and began touring internationally, becoming known both for his solo work as well as his collaborations with world-class artists from other disciplines, including ballerina Sylvie Guillem, visual artist Anish Kapoor, and writer Hanif Kureishi. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Laurence Olivier Award, the Bessie Award (New York Dance and Performance Award), the ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts) Distinguished Artist Award, the Fred and Adele Astaire Award, the Herald Archangel Award at the Edinburgh International Festival, the South Bank Sky Arts Award and six Critics&rsquo; Circle National Dance Awards. Akram Khan was awarded an MBE for services to dance in 2005.

Akram Khan is a celebrated British dancer choreographer.

Akram Khan

Salima Hashmi is one of the most influential and well-respected artists and curators in Pakistan. Besides being an accomplished painter, she also runs her own art gallery, which features the work of young artists. She taught at the prestigious National College of Arts (NCA) in Lahore, Pakistan, for more than thirty years and served as its principal for four years. She is the former Dean of the School of Visual Arts and Design at the Beaconhouse National University, Lahore.&nbsp;

Salima Hashmi comes from a socially and politically active family. Her father was the legendary Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, and her mother, the British-born Alys Faiz was a respected journalist and peace activist in Pakistan. One of two daughters, Salima was always active in the arts, performing in plays before taking on painting professionally. She studied at the National College of Arts, the Bath Academy of Art, and the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1999, Salima Hashmi received Pakistan&rsquo;s Pride of Performance award.

Salima Hashmi is one of the most influential and well-respected artists and curators in Pakistan.

Salima Hashmi

Syrian musician and musicologist Nouri Iskandar is one of the most important researchers and composers working on old Syrian music, and an authority on Syriac sacral and folk music and its history. Born in 1938 in Deir al-Zur, Nouri Iskandar moved with his family to Aleppo in 1941, where he joined the local Syriac Orthodox scout band and had his first music lessons.He graduated with a Bachelor&rsquo;s degree from the Higher Institute of Music at the University of Cairo in 1964, after which he returned to Aleppo to continue his work through in-depth study and a revival of old Syrian music through contemporary musical experiments.

 Between 1996 and 2002, Nouri Iskandar served as director of the Arab Institute of Music in Aleppo. He has formed several choirs, including &ldquo;Qowqweyo&ndash;Al-Fakharoon&rdquo;, which has performed Syriac sacral music in Syria and Europe, and has written two books that present his transcriptions of early sources of Syriac liturgical music.

Syrian musician and musicologist Nouri Iskandar is one of the most important researchers and composers working on old Syrian music.

Nouri Iskandar

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