A few years ago, I posted about the helplessness I often feel as a musician in the face of world events. I remember feeling it keenly for the first time as a student in New York. I don’t remember the circumstances of my despondent state of mind, but at a lesson one week with Jerome Ashby, whatever had been brewing came to the surface. It’s just a piece of metal, I said. His response, in his ever thoughtful way, was I think you know it’s more than that. And of course, it is more than that. Far more.
The poet Li-Young Lee wrote an essay in which he says this: “I felt that they [great poems] saved my life. Am I stupid? Am I one of those idiots who goes around saying that poetry saved my life? His poems, I can say this, saved my life. And I bet they saved his life.”
Many of us, probably most of us, could substitute the word “music” into this statement of Li-Young Lee’s. If music didn’t save us from a literal or even emotional death, maybe it gave meaning and shape to a young life that would have otherwise been spent listlessly, which is a kind of death. Or maybe it gave life to a special voice that has saved others.
There is a young trumpet student in Kabul at ANIM (Afghan National Institute of Music) by the name of AhmadBaset Azizi (he goes by Baset). The school has received quite a bit of press after its U.S. tour several years ago, and again, after a suicide bomber attack during a concert. The Taliban’s target was the head of school, who survived, though a German concertgoer did not. After tireless efforts on his own part, and some guidance from others, Baset has been accepted at Interlochen with a scholarship, but has no financial means to attain the rest of his tuition and fees there.
I can’t help but think about the times I feel utterly ineffectual as a citizen of this war-torn, crazy world. And here is a chance to make a difference to at least one young Afghani at the brink of a future in music, and at the brink of a new life in a peaceful country. With our help, music can save his life, and perhaps many more lives through him. Please consider joining me to help him pursue his dreams. Click here to donate.
