Carnegie Hall

The Afghan Youth Orchestra (AYO) is the premier ensemble of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, consisting of men and women between the ages of 14 and 20 who perform on traditional Afghan and Western instruments. Originally formed in 2010, AYO has represented Afghan music nationally and internationally in many prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Oman’s Royal Opera House in Muscat. While exiled in Portugal, AYO debuted in October 2022 at Gulbenkian Concert Hall.

Since then, AYO has received invitations from various European cities, including recent concerts in the UK titled “Breaking the Silence” and “Music for Freedom.” In 2023, AYO traveled to Switzerland, where it performed a series of concerts titled “Music from a Silent Land” in Victoria Hall and at the UN. Other highlights that year included “Sound of Freedom” in Germany at Beethovenfest and a performance in Tajikistan’s Lahoti Theater.

AYO’s performances are not only opportunities to share the beauty of Afghan music, but also serve to raise awareness about the gender apartheid against women in Afghanistan and advocate to restore cultural and musical rights for the Afghan people. The orchestra aims to spark dialogue, raise awareness, and inspire action towards positive changes.

For additional information, visit anim-music.org.

Tiago Moreira da Silva, born in 1991, embarked on his musical journey with the flute under the guidance of Rute Cruz and later with Raquel Lima at ESMAE (Oporto Academy of Music). His dedication and talent led him to pursue further studies, culminating in a master’s degree in flute from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg in 2016, where he studied with Jürgen Franz. Building on this foundation, he continued his education and completed a master’s degree in piccolo at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp in 2018, mentored by Peter Verhoyen.

In 2017, he became an alumnus of the Lucerne Festival Academy, an experience that allowed him to collaborate with esteemed conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Peter Eötvös, Sir Simon Rattle, and Matthias Pintscher with concerts in prestigious venues like the Berliner Philharmonie, Philharmonie de Paris, KKL Lucerne, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Centre for Fine Arts (Bozar) in Brussels, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Cologne Philharmonie, and Roulette in Brooklyn. He was also selected to join Ensemble intercontemporain for a tour of Europe in 2018.

Inspired by these experiences, Mr. Moreira da Silva delved into the world of orchestral conducting, beginning his studies at the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra in 2018 under the guidance of Jean-Marc Burfin. This journey led him to complete a master’s degree in orchestral conducting at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa in 2022.

Throughout his career, he has conducted a diverse range of ensembles and orchestras, including the Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra, Remix Ensemble, Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra, FEUP Classical Orchestra, Orquestra do Norte, Quarteto Contratempus, Alto Minho Youth Orchestra, and Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras.

In addition to conducting, Mr. Moreira da Silva is deeply committed to music education. He has led various educational initiatives, including summer internships and flute ensembles, and he is currently teaching conducting to the students of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. He has participated in master classes with renowned teachers such as Nicolás Pasquet, Johannes Schlaefli, Peter Rundel, Pedro Neves, Douglas Bostock, and José Rafael Pascual Vilaplana.

In 2020, he was honored to receive second prize at the first International Academy and Orchestral Conducting Competition organized by the Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Moreira da Silva currently serves as artistic director and chief conductor of the FEUP Classical Orchestra and Afghan Youth Orchestra (AYO), where he aims to inspire and empower young musicians from diverse backgrounds. He has led AYO on prestigious stages worldwide, including Victoria Hall in Geneva, Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre in London, Teatro Rossini in Pesaro, and Tajikistan Academy Theater of Lakhuti, in addition to collaborating with musicians from the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Olimpia, and Tajik State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.

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 coeducational environment in traditional Afghan and Western classical music, while obtaining high quality academic education. ANIM supports the most disadvantaged members of Afghan society, representing a mosaic of ethnicities from all parts of the country.

ANIM has been recognized around the world for its vision, progress, and impact, including the 2018 Polar Music Prize and Honorable Mention at the 2019 Global Pluralism Awards. The institute’s success has been celebrated at many international conferences and symposiums, including the World Economic Forum, UNESCO, Asia Society, and more. ANIM has also been recognized by the World Bank as a model of music and academic education for other schools in developing countries. Three additional studies have recognized ANIM, including UNESCO’s “Gender Equality, Heritage, and Creativity” report.

ANIM’s orchestras and ensembles—including the renowned all-women orchestra Zohra and the Afghan Youth Orchestra—have performed on the world’s most renowned stages, including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Oman’s Royal Opera House in Muscat, British Museum, Berwaldhallen, Gulbenkian Arts Centre, and Sydney Opera House. Additional concerts have been performed in Uzbekistan, Germany, Tanzania, Argentina, Estonia, Poland, South Korea, Finland, Denmark, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, India, Sweden, Slovakia, Azerbaijan, and more.

For more than a decade, ANIM has been at the forefront of promoting human rights, protecting Afghanistan’s rich cultural heritage, empowering women and girls through music, facilitating intercultural dialogue, and advocating for the rights of artists and musicians. The return of the Taliban on August 15, 2021, not only led to the destruction of the moral, ethical, social, and economic environment in which ANIM had been functioning for the last two decades, but also brought ANIM under existential threat and its people into mortal peril. ANIM leadership and Friends of ANIM galvanized the support of the world community to rescue the school and its 273 community members, securing their safe passage to Portugal, where they have since been offered group asylum by the government.