Homayoun Sakhi is an Afghan-born player of the Afghan Rubab, with an international base of fans and many global collaborations. Since moving to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, he has collaborated with the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...

and others. Sakhi was born in 1976 in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

into a family of musicians; he learned to play the rubab from his father. He moved to the United States in 2002 and lives in

Fremont, California Fremont () is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San F ...

("Little Kabul"), where he teaches Afghan music at a children's school he opened. Sakhi's music is heard on two CDs from

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was f ...

: ''The Art of the Afghan Rubab: Music of Central Asia Vol. 3'' (2006), a solo album, and '' Rainbow: Music of Central Asia Vol. 8'' (2010), a collaboration with the

and others. He has collaborated with

santoor The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut wood and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It ...

player Rahul Sharma and was a resident at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

. Dawn Elder brought him together with Afghan singer Mahwash, with whom he formed the group Voices of Afghanistan. In a 2013 interview with

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, Sakhi said he practiced between eight and twelve hours every day, inventing new techniques along the way. He plays higher on the neck than others do, and picks the strings in both directions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakhi, Homayoun Living people 1976 births Entertainers from Kabul People from Fremont, California 21st-century Afghan musicians