Aga Khan Music Awards: Embracing An Expression Of Spirituality
The second cycle of the Aga Khan Music Awards will be held later this year, to acknowledge the exceptionally creative artists and musicians who have displayed innovation in their craft during the past two world-changing years.
Throughout the history of Muslim societies, arts and music have played an essential role as a source of spiritual enlightenment, moral inspiration, and social cohesion. The elegant sounds of traditional instruments, the allure of poetic lyrics, and the depth of human vocals have, for many centuries, reflected the Islamic tradition.
"The cultural heritage of Islam has long embraced musical language as an elemental expression of human spirituality,” said Mawlana Hazar Imam at the inaugural Aga Khan Music Awards ceremony in 2019.
“Listening to music, practising music, sharing music, performing music - have long been an intimate part of life for Muslim communities across the world, as has the chanting of devotional and historical or epic texts.”
The Aga Khan Music Awards were established by Mawlana Hazar Imam in 2018 to foster the development of living musical heritage in societies and disseminate it internationally through collaborations with creative musicians, artists, educators, and arts presenters.