Negin Khpalwak (b 1997) female conductor from Afghanistan

Negin is a female conductor leading the Zohra - the first all female orchastra in Afghanistan.

Being a girl, under Taliban rule, she could never share her passion with her family. He first steps were in secret until she finally revealed her passion to her father who supported her…

She was sent to an orphanage called the Afghan Child Education and Care Organization (AFCECO). Aged 13 she was selected for the Afghanistan Institute for Music by musicologist Ahmad Naser Samast. Half the students are street kids or orphans.

Talented and hard working she learned to play the lute-like robab and the piano. , She also studied singing before becoming a conductor.

In 2017 they performed outside Afghanistan for the first time at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. They have since been on tours to Switzerland and Germany.

I will never accept defeat. I will continue to play music. I do not feel safe but when people say 'That is Negin Khpalwak ’ that gives me energy.

Sources
Wikipedia
RISE:Extraordinary Women of Colour Who Changed the World by Maliha Abidi