FAQs for the Aga Khan Music Awards

Created by His Highness the Aga Khan in 2018, the Awards recognise exceptional talent, creativity, promise and enterprise in music performance, creation, education, preservation and revitalisation in societies across the world in which Muslims have a significant presence.

Nominees need not be Muslims. Instructions to nominators underscore that nominations are to be merit-based and made without regard for religion, race, gender or age.

The total value of the Awards is $500,000. In addition to receiving cash prizes, laureates are eligible for multi-year development support grants. They are invited to propose music-centred projects that align with the aims of the Aga Khan Music Programme, or another entity of the Aga Khan Development Network, and to collaborate with the relevant entity in carrying them out.

The Awards secretariat prioritises projects that aim to deepen social impact through arts education or by promoting pluralism, community-building and awareness of cultural heritage, health and environmental issues.

The Awards focus on a constellation of musical arts, inclusive of but not limited to devotional music and poetry, indigenous classical music, traditional folk music and tradition-inspired contemporary music that has flourished in cultures shaped by Islam.

The number of awardees and special mentions, as well as the specific domains of activity in which awards are made, is determined by the Master Jury for each Awards cycle.

Besides recognising and supporting exceptional talent, the Awards aim to strengthen tolerance and pluralism around the world by promoting musical genres and styles that embody music’s traditional role as a source of spiritual enlightenment, moral inspiration and social cohesion.

“His Highness the Aga Khan established the Music Awards in 2018, and it is with pride and excitement that we look towards the third Awards cycle. The Awards and Music Programme have succeeded in building a strong community – a family – whose members live worldwide and are bound together by a love and respect for the kind of music that speaks directly to our hearts and souls. I look forward to discovering new nominees who speak diverse musical languages and share a power to lead us towards what is best and highest in ourselves and in others.”
Fairouz Nishanova, Director, Aga Khan Music Programme

“The Music Awards aim to illuminate the diverse forms in which Muslim musical heritage is expressed in the contemporary world by assisting the career development of individual artists as well as the development of educational and cultural organisations working to preserve and further develop this heritage.”
Theodore Levin, AKMA Advisory Council

Nominees can be individuals, collectives, ensembles or groups, as well as initiatives, institutions or organisations. They should have demonstrated distinction in one or more of the following domains:

• Creation of a musical work or body of work (which may be in the form of notated music, recordings, video, film, or digital media)
• Musical performance
• Music-related social or humanistic endeavours (education; preservation, revitalisation, documentation and dissemination; social inclusion; research and scholarship)
• Development, sustainability, and availability of music or musical institutions.

To maintain the integrity of the nomination process, we do not disclose the names of our nominators. Nominations for the Music Awards are solicited from a distinguished international group of performing artists and music specialists who include educators, scholars, producers, arts presenters, and representatives of civil society and cultural development organisations.

If you would like to become a nominator, please contact the Aga Khan Music Awards secretariat at akma@akdn.org.

Unfortunately, we do not accept self-nominations. However, you can contact us at akma@akdn.org and we will find a nominator within our network to review and submit your work. 

The Music Awards have a triennial cycle. The first Awards ceremony was held in 2019; the second Awards ceremony in 2022. The third AKMA ceremony is scheduled to take place in 2025.

The Master Jury has complete independence to select the winners. No one directly associated with the Aga Khan’s institutions is eligible for the Award. The Master Jury is drawn from eminent performers, composers, festival directors, music scholars and arts education leaders.

The Music Awards are governed by an Advisory Council, co-chaired by His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan and Prince Amyn Aga Khan, under the patronage of the Aga Khan Family. The Awards are administered by a secretariat under the oversight of the Aga Khan Music Programme.