Ricardo Castro, brilliant pianist, conductor, and entrepreneur, created NEOJIBA in his Brazilian hometown. Since its conception in 2007, orchestras from the program’s twenty-two centers have performed over 1,600 concerts for an estimated 830,000 people in Brazil and around the world. NEOJIBA’s Youth Orchestra became the first Brazilian youth orchestra to ever play in Europe, and since then, they have completed seven international tours, playing more than 300 concerts to a total audience of 480 thousand people.

The NEOJIBA program is a Bahia State Government public policy, maintained by the Secretary of Justice, Human Rights, and Social Development of the State and managed by the Institute for Social Development through Music (IDSM, in Portuguese).
They believe that artistic practice is a vehicle for human development and should be accessible to every citizen. This conviction is what has driven them since the beginning, in 2007, when NEOJIBA was founded to promote social development and integration of children and young people, especially those who live in social vulnerability, through collective musical teaching and practice.

They form part of a large network of partners within the fields of social development, education, and culture, working together so that children, teenagers and young people in Bahia can develop competencies and multiple skills to play different roles in response to the challenges of the modern era.
Currently, NEOJIBA consists of 2.324 direct members in our 13 centers, located in Salvador, Simões Filho, Feira de Santana, Vitória da Conquista, Lauro de Freitas, Jequié and Teixeira de Freitas. NEOJIBA also benefits another 4500 people indirectly through activities provided by partner initiatives.