NEOJIBA
The State Centers for Child and Youth Orchestras of Bahia are an example of innovation in public policy, linking up, in a pioneering fashion, the areas of culture, education and social development in Bahia. The program was founded in 2007 by Ricardo Castro, pianist, educator, conductor and cultural manager. The program is maintained by the Secretary of Justice and Human Rights of the State of Bahia, while the management of the initiative is carried out by the Institute for Social Development through Music (IDSM, in Portuguese).
AREAS OF ACTION: Social Development, Education and Culture.
MISSION: To promote, in Bahia, social development and social integration of children and young people - especially those who live in social vulnerability - through collective musical performance.
VISION: Artistic practice available to every citizen and recognized as a vehicle for human development.
VALUES: Commitment, solidarity, excellence, innovation and transparency.
NEOJIBA´s methodology is inspired by El Sistema, created by the conductor José Antônio Abreu in 1975, in Venezuela, and recognized worldwide as one of the most successful initiatives ever in this area.
Since then, NEOJIBA has benefited approximately 20,000 children and young people with musical training activities. The program consists of 13 centers. The principal center is located in Salvador and there are regional centers in Feira de Santana, Teixeira de Freitas and Vitória da Conquista. There are also another 9 musical training centers in various neighborhoods in Salvador and the cities of Simões Filho, Lauro de Freitas e Jequié. Currently, NEOJIBA benefits another 6000 people indirectly through activities carried out by partner initiatives.
Orchestras from the program’s centers have performed over 2,209 concerts for an estimated 929,322 people in Brazil and abroad.
Therefore, the general public sees the result of this work in the musical quality of the 2 de Julho Orchestra, the program’s first and principal orchestra. The Youth Orchestra musicians combine their music knowledge with their work as monitors to NEOJIBA members and also to many other community centers of Salvador metropolitan area and other cities. Highlight in the national and international scene, NEOJIBA´s Youth Orchestra had played more than 300 concerts to a total audience of 480 thousand people.
It was the first brazilian youth orchestra to play in Europe, in 2010 and, since then, had done seven tours in Brazil and abroad. From 2020 on, the Youth Orchestra of Bahia, when touring, will be assembled through intern selection audiences, open to musicians from several orchestral formations from all the NEOJIBA nucleus.