Geneva, Switzerland, 1 October 2025 \u2013 The Aga\u00a0Khan Music Awards (AKMA) revealed today 22 finalists for its 2025 cycle. The winners selected by the Awards Master Jury will be announced on 4 November and honoured at an award ceremony on 22 November at London\u2019s Southbank Centre. The ceremony will be the centrepiece of a four-day festival celebrating music from the Great East, presented by AKMA in collaboration with the EFG London Jazz Festival. The laureates will share a prize fund of $500,000. <\/p>\n
Established in 2018 by His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga\u00a0Khan IV and his brother, Prince Amyn Aga\u00a0Khan, the Music Awards<\/a> honour exceptional achievement across diverse musical cultures shaped by Islam. They recognise individuals, groups and institutions whose work sustains and reinvents musical traditions while promoting spiritual insight, social cohesion and cultural resilience. <\/p>\n The Awards are governed today by an advisory council co-chaired by His Highness Prince Rahim Aga\u00a0Khan V and his uncle, Prince Amyn Aga\u00a0Khan, and are open to individuals, ensembles and organisations without restriction as to gender, geography, religion, or nationality. <\/p>\n The 22 finalists were selected from more than 300 nominees put forward by an international network of nominators and represent 16 countries. Among them are cosmopolitan musicians with flourishing international careers, as well as revered tradition-bearers all but unknown beyond their own community. <\/p>\n Awards finalists include Mohi Bahauddin Dagar, who represents the 20th generation of a hereditary lineage specialising in the performance of dhrupad, an ancient contemplative style of Hindustani (North Indian) music; master balafon player Mamadou Diabat\u00e9, who works with students in his native Burkina Faso as well as internationally to preserve the Sambla balafon language; Hamid El Kasri, a ma\u00e2lem (master musician) of the gnawa tradition from Ksar El Kebir, Morocco, who has engaged in adventurous collaborations with artists such as Joe Zawinul, Snarky Puppy and Jacob Collier; and Farah Kaddour, a Lebanese innovator on the buzuq who integrates her artistic practice into humanitarian projects for communities displaced by war or extreme poverty. A full list of Music Awards finalists is available below. <\/p>\n In addition to a share of the prize fund, AKMA winners gain access to professional development opportunities such as commissions, recordings, management contracts and support for educational and preservation initiatives. Aligned with the Aga\u00a0Khan Music Programme\u2019s broader mission<\/a>, the Awards aim to advance pluralism, tolerance, social cohesion and global understanding through music. <\/p>\n The Aga\u00a0Khan Music Awards festival will take place in venues across London from 20 to 23 November, with the full programme of events to be announced on 8 October. <\/p>\n 2025 AKMA finalists
Kamilya Jubran<\/a> (Palestine) \u2013 oud and qanun player, vocalist and composer
\n
Derya Turkan<\/a> (Turkey) \u2013 classical kemen\u00e7e player, composer and teacher
\n
\nSenny Camara<\/a> (Senegal) \u2013 kora and guitar player, singer, composer and sound engineer
\n
\nFarah Kaddour<\/a> (Lebanon) \u2013 buzuq player, composer and music scholar
\n
Mamadou Diabat\u00e9<\/a> (Burkina Faso) \u2013 master balafon player, composer and educator
\n
\nGhalia Benali<\/a> (Tunisia) \u2013 singer, composer, actress, dancer and visual artist
\n
Ali Kazemi<\/a> (Iran) \u2013 tar and setar player, composer, educator and scholar
\n
Layth Sidiq<\/a> (Jordan) \u2013 violinist, composer and educator
\n
Hayaf Yassine<\/a> (Lebanon) \u2013 santur virtuoso, educator and scholar
\n<\/p>\n