The AYS was founded in 2019 by Keys of Change, answering to requests from local teachers and students from the greater Accra area to put together an ensemble of young musicians from all walks of life, in order to empower the youth through music. The heart of the orchestra are the young musicians from Kinder Paradise, a children's home in the outskirts of Accra. The launch of the orchestra took place in November 2019 with a performance at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Accra, with a group of 40 musicians performing a variety programme under the baton of Panos Karan. Keys of Change plans to continue its visits to Accra, in order to continue working with children that would not otherwise have access to music education and live performances. For more information please visit: www.keysofchange.org

Can music change the world? We believe it can! From the depths of the Amazon rainforest to slum communities in India, tsunami-stricken Fukushima (Japan), and victims of abandonment, neglect, violence and child trafficking at a children’s home in Ghana, Keys of Change uses music to change the lives of young people, making the future hopeful, happier and brighter. We change the world, with music! Keys of Change: • is a charity formed by individuals who deeply believe that playing music can make this world a better place; • was set up in early 2011 by the international concert pianist Panos Karan, who works with two other trustees and a growing number of committed volunteers in many countries, all aiming to advance the lives of children and young people living in adverse circumstances around the world, through musical education and access to live classical music performances; • does not employ any staff, do any advertising and/or have any operation costs, and relies solely upon private donations from generous individuals and fundraising events to fund its work; • on a shoe-string budget, has, over the past few years (including online throughout the pandemic), brought classical music, often for the first time, to deprived or suffering audiences in remote areas across the globe; and • has, through its work and music, brought alive emotions (fascination, happiness, tears of sadness), and generated hope and encouragement. Wherever Keys of Change goes to perform, it sets up and funds musical education projects, working in conjunction with local music teachers and has: • provided instruments and music (including regular violin, viola, cello, flute, guitar and percussion) lessons for young people from deprived backgrounds who would otherwise not have access to such, in Ecuador, Greece (Xanthi), Russia (Siberia), Japan (Fukushima), Ghana (Accra), Uganda (Kampala and surrounds), and Sierra Leone (Freetown); and • made regular visits to work with young musicians to improve their playing and give them the opportunity to perform in joint concerts with Keys of Change musicians i.e. in Ecuador, India (Kolkata), Mexico (Oaxaca), Ghana and Japan. In Fukushima (Japan), this has culminated in the founding of the Fukushima Youth Sinfonietta and up to fifty young Japanese musicians travelling to perform concerts at: - the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London (England), (April 2014 and 2019), - Tokyo Opera City, Tokyo (Japan), (August 2015), and the Symphony Hall, Boston (USA), (April 2016). In January 2021, Keys of Change founded the World Youth Sinfonietta (publishing, via social media, its debut performance - Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ from Symphony No. 9), as a way of (safely online) enabling young music students from five countries of the world, living in difficult circumstances, but inspired, empowered and motivated by music, to unite and share their message of hope and joy and play music together, in spite of and as a lifeline through the pandemic.

For a long time I have advocated how music can be a pivotal element in helping children, turn around their lives, and, especially when facing difficulties, to inspire, empower and give hope in times of crisis. I saw it time and again, in no abstract terms, but in concrete ways just by adding the simple element of music in young people's lives: from giving up to trying hard, from hopeless present to hopeful future, from failure to success,  What about the not so young?  In a 3000km journey, during the first two weeks of 2022, I did a performance every day at a different old people’s home, or shelter, or volunteer centre looking after survivors of the 2011 disaster. I never stop being amazed at how much a simple musical activity can do. Connecting people, directly, that’s what it is all about. The big concert halls are great. But when the heart speaks to the heart, this is where it matters. Putting a keyboard up on two chairs, pressing the piano pedals with slippers and sharing music with those that are now in the age about to hand us over the world we live in, the people that have been mercilessly attacked by the pandemic, the generation of the grandmothers and grandfathers that had to leave without a loving farewell.  Can music change the world? I believe it can. (c) Keys of Change USA 2022

In the Keys of Change World Youth Sinfonietta, young musicians from five corners of the world, all of whom are learning music in the Keys of Change projects but most of whom had never met each other before, came together in a positive and creative spirit, to use music and music learning to improve themselves and share with the world something that would otherwise never have been expected from them: unity, determination, hope. The piece they performed online this year was Ravel’s Farandole from Suite L’Arlésienne. #keysofchange #youthorchestra #youngmusicians #virtualorchestra #worldorchestra #youth #youngmusicians #ghanamusicians #mexicomusicians #indiamusicians #musicforchange #youthmusic

The Chennai Youth Sinfonietta was launched in October 2022. Twenty young musicians took to the stage, after having to wait two years for the pandemic to subside. The response from the audience said it all: they got a standing ovation — their first standing ovation, the first time perhaps in their lives that they felt the results of their hard work were seen, recognised, applauded, admired. I wish I could describe the atmosphere on the stage, from the nerves of standing in the wings, before we all came on, to the ecstatic smiles at the end. The young musicians worked fully as a musical team, perhaps experiencing this kind of intense and focused teamwork for the first time in their lives. They were following and leading, they were flexible with the music, they were listening, to themselves and to those around them, they felt responsible for others, they felt proud of what they were doing, they discovered a self-worth that perhaps never imagined existed in them before. **** Music featured: Chopin Étude Op. 25 No. 1 in A flat major, "Aeolian Harp" performed live in London by Panos Karan (2018). #indiatravel #india #chennai #travelblog #pianist #pianomusic #youthorchestra #pianist #pianist #pianist #tamilnadu #tamil #traveltube #pianist #travelblog #chennaimusic #chennaitravel #pianolover #chopin #chopinlover #chopinetudes #pianistblog

Deep in the Andes Mountains in Ecuador a group of young people had a dream to take up music and create a music band in order to preserve their unique culture and ancestral traditions. With the help of music charity Keys of Change, this dream is becoming a reality. Visit www.keysofchangeusa.org for more details. (c) All rights reserved Keys of Change USA 2021 #ecuador #music #banda #bandamusic #brassband #musicproject #youth #youthmusic #musicforyouth #empowerment #musicempowerment #andes #quechua #ecuadorculture #ecuadormusic

TEDxAthens is a world-class conference about Innovation, Creativity and Ideas based in Athens, Greece. TEDxAthens is one of the first TEDx events worldwide and the first ever TEDx event in Greece - started in May 2009. Its main goal is to develop and leverage the TED experience at a regional level, uniting innovators, thinkers, inspirational speakers, shakers, makers and breakers. TEDxAthens is curated by Dimitris Kalavros-Gousiou and organized by a team of 40 volunteers. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

The play out that got away - young musicians from the areas hit by 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster perform our theme music. In the end we broadcast another of their performances but we still rather liked it. Follow @BBCNewsnight on Twitter https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight Like BBC Newsnight on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bbcnewsnight

音楽を通じて米国などによる東日本大震災の復興支援への感謝を伝えようと、福島県の中高生たちでつくる「福島青年管弦楽団」が米東部ボストンを訪れ、名門ボストン交響楽団が本拠地とする「シンフォニーホール」で３日、演奏会を開いた。生徒たちが入場すると、約千人の観客はスタンディングオベーションで歓迎。米作曲家バーバーの「弦楽のためのアダージョ」やモーツァルトのフルート協奏曲などの、熱のこもった演奏に大きな拍手で応えた。 記事詳細 http://www.47news.jp/news/2016/04/post_20160404103541.html