Lesley Friedman Rosenthal and Jessica Lustig on Afghan refugees

The OLLI Distinguished Speakers Series presents
Lesley Friedman Rosenthal and Jessica Lustig on

Rescuing an Afghan Music School from the Taliban: A Success Story

Saturday, July 23rd at 11:00 am EDT

In-person at the Berkshire Museum

39 South Street, Pittsfield, Mass. 01201 

Online registration is now closed. Payment will be accepted at the door; cash and checks preferred.

Founded in 2010 by Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) is the first and only school of Afghan music, where talented Afghan children regardless of their gender, social circumstances and ethnic background are trained in a co-educational environment in Afghan traditional and Western classical music, while obtaining high quality academic general education. ANIM has a special focus on supporting the most disadvantaged members of Afghan society – orphans, street working children, women, and girls and its student body represents a mosaic of ethnicities from all parts of Afghanistan.  

As the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan in August 2021, ANIM came under existential threat and its people were in mortal peril.  Friends of ANIM galvanized the support of the world community to rescue the school and its 273 community members and secure their safe passage to Portugal, where they have been offered group asylum by the government.  

Two members of the board of Friends of ANIM, part-time Berkshires residents Lesley Rosenthal and Jessica Lustig, will speak about their roles in supporting the school's ambitions and rescuing it from peril. 

Lesley Rosenthal is Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Secretary of The Juilliard School. Previously she served as EVP, General Counsel & Secretary of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. Rosenthal is the founding board president of Friends of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, which in 2021 galvanized international support for the rescue of all 273 members of the Afghan music school from peril at the hands of the Taliban. Rosenthal graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. She was later elected by alumni worldwide to a six-year term on the Harvard University Board of Overseers, serving as Vice Chair of the board, chairing its Arts & Humanities committee. She is the author of the bestselling book, Good Counsel: Meeting the Legal Needs of Nonprofits (John Wiley & Sons 2012) and co-librettist of the jazz opera, Dear Erich, which is being presented at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on August 6.

Jessica Lustig is founding partner and Managing Director of 21C Media Group, Inc. and Treasurer, Friends of ANIM.  With more than 30 years in the music business, Managing Director Jessica Lustig brings a global perspective to 21C. Clients have included Google, YouTube, the World Economic Forum, the Global Fund, the World Bank, and many technology start-ups working in the cultural sector. Among Ms. Lustig’s notable international marketing and consulting initiatives are conceiving and developing the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, advising the World Economic Forum on cultural leaders and major programs for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, and working with the Afghanistan National Institute of Music on touring and performances as well as its evacuation from Kabul and resettlement in Lisbon in 2021.  With an undergraduate degree in music and an MBA in International Business and Marketing from the Stern School of Business at New York University, Jessica brings a combination of musical knowledge and business acumen to 21C Media Group. She provides strategic planning and consulting services to businesses interested in strengthening their interactions with the world of arts and culture, as well as technology innovation in the arts through her work with many of the world’s leading concert artists, musical institutions and composers.

 Admission is $10 for OLLI at BCC and Berkshire Museum members, and $15 for the general public.  Admission is free for Berkshire Community College students, youth 17 and under, and those holding WIC, EBT/SNAP, or ConnectorCare cards.

This event will not be recorded.