Homayoun Sakhi was born in Kabul in 1976 into one of Afghanistan’s leading musical families. From the age of ten, he studied rubâb—a double-chambered lute, and the national instrument of Afghanistan—with his father, Ustad Ghulam Sakhi. They worked in the traditional form of apprenticeship known as ustâd-shâgird (Persian for “master-apprentice”). Homayoun’s artistry demonstrates how an imaginative musician working within a traditional musical idiom can enrich and expand its expressive power while respecting what had been passed down from master musicians of the past. Homayoun’s personal story illustrates the extraordinarily challenging conditions under which he and his fellow Afghan musicians have pursued their art. During Afghanistan’s many years of armed conflict, when music was controlled, censored, and finally, banned altogether, the classical rubâb style to which Sakhi had devoted his career not only survived but reached new creative heights. He was granted residency in the United States, and settled in Fremont, California, bringing with him the sophisticated and original rubâb style that he had developed. Fremont, a city of some 200,000 that lies southeast of San Francisco, claims the largest concentration of Afghans in the United States. There, Homayoun established himself as a leader of the local musical community, and received National and International acclaim for both his work as a performer, teacher and composer.
From his base in Fremont, Homayoun has sought out the finest available artists from Central Asia to accompany him in The Sakhi Ensemble (see below). Also, as a composer, he has created works for Kronos Quartet, Hannibal Lokumbe, and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. And he has collaborated with celebrated musicians from around the globe, most recently Ustad Farida Mahwash. Homayoun is now creating some of his most passionate compositions to date for and Mahwash and Voices of Afghanistan.
Together these remarkable Afghan artists bring together and perform a blend of ghazals, Afghan folk songs imbued with Sufi mysticism, and ever evolving new takes on Afghanistan’s musical legacy. Through their spellbinding performances, they purvey hope for a new era of freedom and joy yet to come in their beloved homeland.
