Nearly at the last minute, Caroline noticed that ticket sales for Heart of Afghanistan performing at the Musical Instrument Museum were weak and asked me about going. In our efforts to support the kinds of music we’d like to see more of at the MIM, I went ahead and bought us a couple of tickets. The unfamiliar songs were reminiscent of pieces we’ve heard from India, Bollywood specifically, but as avenues into Afghan music are pretty much non-existent in America, aside from specifically tracking them down on the internet, neither Caroline nor I had any real familiarity with the music from Afghanistan.

The photos in the background behind the artists show Ahmad Zahir, the Elvis Presley of Afghanistan; the group performed a couple of his most loved songs. In the rows behind us sat people that felt talking would make a good accompaniment to what we were listening to coming from the stage. Sadly, we didn’t share their enthusiasm for narration and moved away from our ideal seats to the side. Two more songs into the evening’s entertainment and we had to bow out. Well at least we’d been able to mostly enjoy an hour of the concert but to the people sitting in the 5th row who couldn’t silence yourselves, you owe us the $98 we paid to be present.

[This concert was organized by American Voices, a non-profit dedicated to “enrich the lives of people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds through cross-cultural and educational engagement.” I hope that there will be continued collaboration between American Voices and the MIM, resulting in more concerts like this one. Caroline]