Elham Fanoos
Piano

Elham Fanous is a 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 graduated from Manhattan School of Music in 2021 with a Master's Degree in piano performance, and from Hunter College in 2019 with a Bachelor’s Degree in music, magna cum laude. He also studied at the Franz Liszt Conservatory of Music in Weimar, Germany. Elham has performed as a soloist in major US venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress; for members of the diplomatic corps of Australia, China, Germany, Italy, and Korea; and in solo recital appearances in Germany, Holland, Italy, and Poland. 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. He was also one of the featured artists on New York’s Classical Music radio station WQXR “20 for 2020,” Artists to Watch.

Elham has been profiled and interviewed on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition by host Renee Montagne, on the BBC, on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, the Military Times (US), New York Post, Boston Globe, in the media in Italy, Britain, India, Pakistan, Taiwan and China, and as the subject of a documentary for ZDFtivi (Germany). Grants and awards include a Young Musical Scholars Foundation grant, Anna Sosenko Assist Trust Fund grant, and the Prince Claus Culture and Development grant. He performed the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto with the Hunter College Orchestra as winner of the college’s Concerto Competition in 2018, and a prize winner in the Golden Key International Piano Competition in Frankfurt in 2012.