The 24-year old Elham Fanous is the leading Afghan pianist of his generation. His life’s work is to embody a positive face of Afghanistan’s future and to provide hope to musicians and artists living under threats to their creative expression all around the world.
Elham has performed as a soloist on US State Department-sponsored appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2013. He performed at the Library of Congress for the 2017 Anne Frank Awards Ceremony. He has also played for members of the diplomatic corps of Australia, China, Germany, Italy, and Korea. He has performed for former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and international dignitaries in Kabul and at the Afghan Embassy in Washington DC through the Embassy Series: Uniting People Through Music Diplomacy.
His outreach performances in New York include solo recitals for Women for Afghan Women, NYU Forum on Law, Culture and Society, the Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale, and Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts.
Elham has been awarded full scholarships to participate in notable summer festivals including Classical Bridge (performances at Steinway Hall and Merkin Concert Hall), the International Keyboard Institute and Festival at Hunter College, the Chopin to Gorècki piano festival in Poland, and others. He was the 3rd prize winner in the Golden Key International Piano Competition in Frankfurt in 2012 and the winner of Hunter College Concerto Competition. He has also performed as a solo recitalist in Holland, Italy, and Poland.
Elham has been profiled on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition by host Renee Montagne, in BBC, on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, and in the media in Britain and Pakistan. He is a recipient of Young Musical Scholars Foundation, Ann Sosenko Asist Trust Fund and is one of WQXR's "20 for 20," Artists to Watch. He is also the subject of a German television documentary (ZDF tivi).
Prior to his arrival at Manhattan School of music in 2019, Elham trained at Hunter College and the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), studying piano performance, composition, and music theory as well as a full range of academic subjects. Supported by the World Bank, the US State Department and NATO, ANIM, founded by Polar Prize winner Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, is the first post-Taliban music school in the country. ANIM is the only school in Afghanistan where boys and girls can study academic subjects and eastern and western musical traditions together. Elham also studied at the Franz Liszt Conservatory of Music in Weimar, Germany.
