The Aga Khan Music Programme has named the 11 winners of its 2025 Aga Khan Music Awards, to be held in the UK for the first time on 22 November 2025 at London's Southbank Centre. The ceremony will form part of a four-day festival of music from the Great East, presented in partnership with the EFG London Jazz Festival.
Established in 2018, the Awards honour individuals, groups and institutions 'whose work sustains and reimagines living musical heritage shaped by Islam while promoting spiritual insight, community vitality, and cultural resilience'.
In addition to a share of the $500,000 prize fund, recipients receive professional development opportunities including new commissions, recording projects, management support, and assistance for educational and preservation initiatives. In keeping with the Aga Khan Music Programme’s mission, the Awards aim to advance 'pluralism, tolerance, social cohesion and global understanding through music'.
Aga Khan Music Awards: 2025 Winners
Sahba Aminikia (Iran/USA)
Aminikia is founder and artistic director of the Flying Carpet Festival, a multi-disciplinary travelling arts festival that brings together musicians, artists and educators to create moments of joy and healing for Syrian, Turkish and Kurdish children displaced by war and conflict.
Mariam Bagayoko (Mali)
A singer, dancer and instrumentalist known for her powerful vocal delivery and deep knowledge of traditional repertories, Bagayoko is also a master of the n'goussounbala – a large balafon specific to Bélédougou. Through her mentorship of women and girls, she has played a vital role in sustaining Mali’s musical and dance traditions.
Senny Camara (Senegal)
A kora player, singer and songwriter, Camara's songs address themes of gender equality, environmental responsibility and social justice. Singing in multiple regional languages, she challenges the conventions of kora music, traditionally a male domain.
Kamilya Jubran (Palestine/France)
A pioneering voice in contemporary Arabic music, Jubran's recordings include projects with Swiss composer Werner Hassler and French jazz bassist Sarah Murcia. As artistic director of Zamkana, a non-profit organisation, she supports emerging artists and champions freedom of expression.
Farah Kaddour (Lebanon)
Composer, performer and scholar, Kaddour has expanded the expressive potential of the buzuq, a long-necked fretted lute with ancient Middle Eastern origins. She is an advocate for Action for Hope, a foundation that supports cultural development and humanitarian relief initiatives for communities displaced by war or poverty.
Kyriakos Kalaidzidis (Greece)
An oud player, composer and scholar, Kalaidzidis illuminates the connections between Islamic and Euro-Mediterranean musical traditions. As co-founder and artistic director of the ensemble En Chordais, he has championed music from the Levant. Through his leadership of the MediMuses project, he promotes collaborations across 13 Mediterranean and European countries.
Hamid El Kasri (Morocco)
A singer, guembri player and maâlem (master musician) in the Gnawa tradition, El Kasri is dedicated to preserving and renewing Morocco’s musical heritage. Renowned for his powerful voice, he has also forged collaborations with artists including Joe Zawinul, Snarky Puppy and Jacob Collier, with whom he performed at the BBC Proms.
Qalali Folk Band (Bahrain)
Established over a century ago, the Qalali Folk Band is dedicated to performing and preserving Bahrain’s seafaring musical heritage. The ensemble is renowned for its renditions of sawt — a popular urban musical genre — and fijri, the traditional music of Bahrain’s pearl divers.
Ustad Naseeruddin Saami (Pakistan)
A torchbearer of the Delhi gharana (hereditary lineage) of Hindustani music, Ustad Naseeruddin Saami is a master of khyal – the art of melodic improvisation within the framework of raga (melody) and tala (rhythm). He headlines a renowned qawwali group, together with his four sons
Derya Türkan (Türkiye)
A classical kemençe player, composer and educator, Türkan is known for blending Turkish traditions with jazz and European classical idioms. He has collaborated with a wide range of artists from both East and West, and has also contributed to numerous film soundtracks.
Naseer and Nazeer Ahmed Khan Warsi (India)
Leading exponents of qawwali, the devotional Sufi music of South Asia, brothers Naseer and Nazeer Warsi belong to a family lineage tracing back to the Qawaal Bachhey (children of qawwali) – the singers and musicians trained by Amir Khusrau (1253-1325), the founder of qawwali.
Aga Khan Music Awards: 2025 Special Awards
Mariam Bagayoko, the 87-year-old Malian musician known as the ‘Nightingale of Bélédougou’, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award for her lifelong dedication to elevating and transmitting Mali’s musical heritage, particularly among women and girls.
The Patron’s Award, honouring the patronage of the Aga Khan family, will be presented to Naseer and Nazeer Ahmed Khan Warsi and to Naseeruddin Saami and his sons, who perform as the Saami Brothers.
Aga Khan Music Awards: 2025 Jury
The laureates were selected by an independent seven-member Master Jury from an initial pool of more than 400 nominees.
The international jury includes:
Malian singer-songwriter Oumou Sangaré
Early music specialist Jordi Savall
Kronos Quartet founder and violinist David Harrington
Mumbai-based festival programmer and producer Divya Bhatia
Lebanese vocalist and musicologist Ghada Shbeir
Iranian music specialist Sasan Fatemi
Philanthropy executive and global arts leader Zeyba Rahman
