Chiquinha Gonzaga Orchestra: Building a Culture of Peace Through Music

 
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Chiquinha Gonzaga Orchestra: Building a Culture of Peace Through Music

Diogo Pereira, Executive Director, Harmony Project Phoenix; Consultant, Instituto Brasileiro de Música e Educação (IBME)

11-05-2025

Orquestra Juvenil Chiquinha Gonzaga at Sala Cecília Meireles, Rio de Janeiro.

The Brazilian Institute of Music and Education (IBME – Instituto Brasileiro de Música e Educação) was launched in 2011 with just 15 students. Today, it serves more than 4,000 young people and continues to grow. Among its many talented ensembles, one stands out: the Orquestra Sinfônica Juvenil Chiquinha Gonzaga, an all-female youth orchestra that celebrates the intersection of Brazilian classical and popular music.

The orchestra was created in 2021 with a bold vision: to challenge the way girls’ educational pathways are often limited by a deficit lens. In professional orchestras worldwide, women are still underrepresented. Chiquinha Gonzaga Orchestra was born to shift this paradigm and to show what is possible when girls are given equal opportunities. Its sponsors include Petrogal Brazil and Zurich Santander, through Brazil’s Federal Cultural Incentive Law. Since its inception, it has become a national reference for artistic excellence and social impact.

Orquestra Juvenil Chiquinha Gonzaga at Escadaria Selarón, Rio de Janeiro.

On November 2, 2025, the orchestra’s chamber ensemble marked a thrilling milestone: a performance at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, bringing Brazilian music to one of the world’s most prestigious stages. Performed under the baton of Maestra Priscila Bomfim, the sold-out concert, “Sounds of Brazil,” included music from Brazilian classical and popular traditions, honoring composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Tom Jobim, Baden Powell, Dorival Caymmi, and, of course, Chiquinha Gonzaga, a famous Brazilian composer and pianist who was also the first woman conductor in Brazil. The event celebrated not only young female talent from Brazil but also the power of Brazilian music as a tool for cultural and social transformation.

The journey of these young musicians is nothing short of extraordinary. They come from the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, in the Baixada Fluminense region, known as an epicenter of violence and crime. For many of them, crossing areas of active shootings is part of daily life just to reach rehearsals. It has become so normalized that students often send recordings of gunfire as proof for being excused from a rehearsal.

Against this backdrop, the orchestra has embraced a vision much greater than music—it is about fostering a culture of peace. Many of its members have grown up in IBME programs, some for over a decade, and are now stepping into leadership roles as teaching assistants.

Orquestra Juvenil Chiquinha Gonzaga in a dress rehearsal for their debut concert in New York City.

As part of their American tour, the members of OSJ Chiquinha Gonzaga are also participating in masterclasses and exchanges at the Juilliard School, Columbia University, the New York Philharmonic, and innovative initiatives like the Harmony Project. Concerts in Washington, D.C., and at the Brazilian Consulate in New York are also planned.

While gender equity is at the heart of this orchestra, its mission goes beyond representation. It is also about developing the next generation of teachers, leaders, and peacebuilders. The systems of inequality and violence faced by these young women are socially constructed. That means peace must also be deliberately constructed—through music, community, and opportunity.

In the words of a UNESCO document: “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.” The Chiquinha Gonzaga Orchestra is doing exactly that—constructing the defenses of peace, justice, and opportunity, one note at a time.

All-Female Youth Orchestra, Artistic Excellence, Baden Powell, Baixada Fluminense, Brazilian Consulate, Brazilian Institute Of Music And Education, Brazilian Music, Carnegie Hall, Chiquinha Gonzaga, Classical Music, Columbia University, Constructing Peace, Cultural Exchange, Cultural Transformation, Diogo Pereira, Dorival Caymmi, Education And Opportunity, Female Musicians, Gender Equity, Harmony Project, Heitor Villa-Lobos, IBME, Instituto Brasileiro De Música E Educação, Juilliard School, leadership development, Music As Peacebuilding, Music Education, Music For Justice, New York Philharmonic, November 2025, Orquestra Sinfônica Juvenil Chiquinha Gonzaga, Peacebuilding Through Art, Popular Music, Priscila Bomfim, Rio De Janeiro, social change through music, social impact, Sounds Of Brazil, Tom Jobim, Violence And Peace, Washington D.C., Weill Recital Hall, Women In Music, Women Leaders In The Arts, Youth Empowerment

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