I wrote this note shortly after a suicide bombing took place in Kabul on December 11. This, sadly, is no rare occurrence in Kabul these days, nor, indeed, in many parts of the world, but it came close to home for me, because several of my students and colleagues from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music were there. As I talked over the event with friends, questions about our tolerance for violence came up: why are we vocal about violence overseas, but less so when it is right in our own backyards? More importantly, we began a serious discussion about our ability, as artists, to speak out and call for change. If we can strengthen the community around us, surely this will facilitate change. So this note is really the beginning of my thoughts in moving towards that goal… On Thursday December 11, a bomb was detonated at the French […]