Virtuoso keeps Afghan music alive, despite Taliban ban

Homayoun Sakhi closes his eyes and runs his fingers along the long neck of his wooden instrument encrusted with mother-of-pearl.

"I feel like I have my Afghanistan in my hand," says Sakhi, one of the world's most renowned performers on the country's national instrument, the rubab.

He is jet-lagged after flying in from California to perform at London's Barbican concert hall to raise funds for emergency medicine and education in his homeland.

Along with the growing humanitarian crisis, Afghanistan's rich musical culture is under threat as the Taliban have banned music since their return to power last year.

Widely shared videos have shown them smashing and burning instruments. Musicians have fled the country.

"Right now, we don't have music in Afghanistan," says Sakhi.

"It's really difficult because there's no concerts, there's no music, and (for musicians) it's very difficult to be without any money and without a job. "That's why they're trying to go somewhere to play."

The Taliban clampdown is a repeat of the hardliners' previous time in power between 1996 and 2001, when they banned music as sinful, under a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

The rubab dates back thousands of...