Backstage with two female bands finding new audiences in Yemen and Oman, celebrating women in modern Arab music.

Female musicians are emerging across the Arab world – some traditional and some contemporary – and forming bands that are building audiences and celebrating the power of women in modern Arab music.

Passion of the Heart is a small family group in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. It’s led by Amina al Amrani, who was forced to decide between divorce and her music career – and became a single mother after choosing singing over her husband. Her group can still only perform at women-only gatherings and weddings.

The Omaniyat Band, however, gets to play for a large audience at the Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman. They’re all graduates of Sultan Qaboos University’s music department, although they too have faced challenges along the way. In some small towns in Oman, it’s still socially unacceptable to be a female musician. These women are all challenging gender stereotypes and bringing about change in societies where attitudes have often been slow to modernise.

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