Three Women of Herat

Born in Kent in 1948, Veronica Doubleday studied literature at the University of Sussex and then went to live in Iran and Afghanistan with her husband the ethnomusicologist John Baily. She is an author, musician and academic, recognised as a tradition-bearer and specialist in Afghan women's music. With her own unique repertoire of Afghan songs, Veronica continues to perform on concert stages and in private gatherings, accompanied by John and sometimes with other noted musicians. In 2014 she and John were invited by the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul to serve as teachers and performers of traditional Afghan music. Since the advent of the Taliban to power in 2021, they have given several fund-raising concerts to support urgent charitable causes. Veronica lives with John in Brighton by the sea, in a house filled with Afghan instruments and artefacts and a library of music and books. Drawing on many years of research, she is currently completing a book about the culture, meaning and symbolism of musical instruments.