The Afghan Youth Orchestra (AYO) Returns to the U.S

This summer, the Afghan Youth Orchestra (AYO) returns to the States for the first time since its historic U.S. debut in 2013. The premier ensemble of the displaced Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), the orchestra comprises 46 male and female musicians aged between 14 and 22, whose diverse backgrounds testify to the strength and resilience of the Afghan people. Together with ANIM’s celebrated all-female Zohra Orchestra and conductor Tiago Moreira da Silva, AYO will perform traditional Afghan and Western classical music, on both Afghan and Western instruments, at New York’s Carnegie Hall, as the final concert of the inaugural World Orchestra Week (Aug 7), and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (Aug 8). Marking the ensembles’ first U.S. appearances since the Taliban’s return to power and ANIM’s subsequent flight to safety, these performances represent potent acts of defiance against the regime that has not only outlawed music but also imposed gender apartheid in Afghanistan. 

At Carnegie Hall, where da Silva makes his house debut, AYO’s performance represents the final concert of World Orchestra Week (WOW!), a new festival that brings together seven youth orchestras from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States for a week of cultural exchange and music-making with internationally renowned artists in New York. AYO will be joined on Carnegie Hall’s main stage by members of the European Union Youth Orchestra, and the program will be expanded to include accounts of traditional Sufi songs by ANIM’s Qawwali vocal ensemble.

Two documentaries chronicle recent chapters of the ANIM story. Produced by Voice of America, Symphony of Courage (2022) follows Farida and Zohra Ahmadi, the last two ANIM students to be evacuated from their homeland after the Taliban takeover. Both girls perform as members of AYO on the upcoming U.S. tour, and Symphony of Courage may be streamed on demand here. Directed by Ruhi Hamid and Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald, and produced by Peabody Award winner Sheila Nevins, Last Song from Kabul (2023) captures ANIM’s escape to Portugal and its efforts to rebuild the students’ lives as they start to play music again. Featured works include Zendagi Akher Sarayad, as performed by Zohra on the upcoming U.S. tour. Shortlisted for an Academy Award and nominated for the 2023 Critics’ Choice Best Short Documentary award, Last Song from Kabul is available on Paramount+.

Tickets and further information for the Carnegie Hall performance are available here, and for the Kennedy Center performance here.