To Fairouz Nishanova, Director of the Aga Khan Music Programme, music is much more than entertainment, it’s a cultural life-force. “In the East, this is how the history is passed down from one generation to another,” she says, citing the example of Afghanistan where music is outlawed under the Taliban. “This is why it’s so strong, and this is why it is banned, because it brings the communities together, it makes them stronger, and it encourages liberal and free thinking. So it becomes very dangerous for an oppressive regime.”
Founded in 2000 as part of the Aga Khan Development Network, one of the world’s largest private development networks, the Music Programme started in Central Asia, and has since spread to the Middle East, North and West Africa, and South Asia. Starting as an education programme, the project now also presents music to audiences across the world.
Continuing its long-term partnership with the Edinburgh International Festival, the Aga Khan Music Programme is bringing three concerts to The Hub this August. Nishanova explains that each year’s selection of concerts is carefully curated to fit the theme of the festival and to represent a range of musical traditions.
Saxophonist, percussionist and duclar player Basel Rajoub has been involved since 2009. He reflects on the diversity of sounds he and his fellow musicians have created together: “You can’t hear something like that anywhere [else], you know? So for that, I’m saying it’s crazy, but in a really nice way.”
With 2025’s Festival theme being ‘The Truth We Seek’, Nishanova selected acts that have authentic, meaningful stories to tell. The first event is a performance by Tanzanian singer and composer Yahya Hussein Abdallah and Tunisian-born viola d’amore player Jasser Haj Youssef. “It’s an absolutely unique collaboration, and it’s just as prepared as it is improvised,” says Nishanova.
The second concert involves a live calligraphy, drawn on stage by artist Tazeen Qayyum, with musical accompaniment from Rajoub and qanun player Feras Charestan. “It’s different every time it’s performed,” explains Nishanova. “And these artists, they come on stage and they sort of look at the members of the audience and see who needs what, who needs to be consoled, who needs to be laughed with, who needs to be celebrated.”
Rajoub is also performing in the final concert of the series, a collaboration between the Aga Khan Master Musicians and two French musicians, Vincent Peirani and Vincent Ségal. He enthuses about the melting pot of sounds they create together: “You have great culture behind the qanun as an instrument so when [Charestan] plays his solos, his music, his compositions, it’s something really rich. At the same time you have legendary pipa player [Wu Man], or, for example, one of the nicest oud players in history [Yurdal Tokcan] who’s also joining the project. Then you have great energy from Vincent Peirani, the accordion player, who’s one of the most unique musicians nowadays when it comes to the way he improvises. Same thing with the cello [from Vincent Ségal]; it’s a fantastic sound.”
In addition to the three concerts, the Music Programme is also involved in community projects during the Festival, including a workshop with young musicians aged 8-18, and a shared meal in Broomhouse. “It’s really, really important for us wherever we work, wherever we go, to also reconnect with, often, émigré communities that do not get to experience their own music very often on Western stages,” Nishanova explains.
But whether or not they’re familiar with the musical styles being performed, Nishanova hopes audiences will leave with “a confirmation that we are more alike than different” and an understanding “that the differences of others are not something to be scared of, not something to be afraid of. It’s something that can enrich you and help bring in colours of everyday life.”
Yahya Hussein Abdallah & Jasser Haj Youssef, The Hub, 19 Aug, 8pm
Canvas of Sound with Tazeen Qayyum, The Hub, 21 Aug, 8pm
Master Musicians with Peirani and Segal, The Hub, 22 Aug, 7pm