Some students worry that the school will be shut down and that they will not be allowed to play again, even as a hobby.
For more than a decade, the Afghanistan National Institute of Music has stood as a symbol of the country’s changing identity. It trained hundreds of young artists in artistic traditions that were once forbidden by the Taliban, and formed an all-female orchestra that performed widely in Afghanistan and abroad. But in recent days, as the Taliban have again consolidated control over Afghanistan, the school’s future has been thrown into doubt. Several students and teachers said in interviews that they feared that the Taliban, who have a history of attacking the school’s leaders, would seek to punish people affiliated with the school as well as their families.
