Modeled after the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, which was initiated in 1977 and is given every three years to projects that set new standards of excellence in architecture, planning practices, historic preservation and landscape architecture, the Aga Khan Music Awards will premiate distinguished achievement in music creation and performance, as well as ancillary social and educational domains that help ensure the historical continuity of musical heritage while contributing to its revitalisation and renewal.
“The Aga Khan Music Awards will aspire to fill a unique cultural role,” said His Highness the Aga Khan. Among the world’s many music awards, none of the current awards or prizes focus on the constellation of devotional music and poetry, of indigenous classical music, traditional folk music, and tradition-inspired contemporary music that has flourished in cultures shaped by Islam.
These musical genres and styles embody music’s traditional role as a source of spiritual enlightenment, of moral inspiration, and of social cohesion. At a time when strengthening tolerance and pluralism seems to have become an acute worldwide priority, music offers an exciting medium for reaching and involving global audiences.
First Award Ceremony to be held in 2019 in Lisbon at Gulbenkian Foundation
Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2018 – His Highness the Aga Khan announced the establishment of the Aga Khan Music Awards today.
The Awards, which come with US$ 500,000 in prizes, recognise exceptional creativity, promise, and enterprise in music performance, creation, education, preservation and revitalisation in societies across the world in which Muslims have a significant presence.
The first Music Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in Lisbon, Portugal from 29-31 March 2019 and will be co-hosted by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Lisbon Municipality.
Source: Aga Khan Development Network
Ismailimail 