An Enchanting Evening for Afghanistan's Children

On Saturday, November 1, at 8:00 P.M., School of Hope will be the beneficiary of a concert by Russian pianist Katya Grineva at Lincoln Centers Alice Tully Hall. Proceeds from ticket and album sales will go to School of Hope, a New York-based nonprofit organization, that invests in the future of Afghanistan through fostering education for its children and promoting cross-cultural understanding.

On Saturday, November 1, at 8:00 P.M., School of Hope will be the beneficiary of a concert by Russian pianist Katya Grineva at Lincoln Centers Alice Tully Hall. Proceeds from ticket and album sales will go to School of Hope, a New York-based nonprofit organization, that invests in the future of Afghanistan through fostering education for its children and promoting cross-cultural understanding.

School of Hope was founded in 2000 by a group of Afghan expatriates now living in New York who were forced to leave Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979. In response to the hardships they have personally experienced as well as the devastation suffered by Afghanistan, this group has decided to take an active role in the reconstruction of the education system in their homeland. School of Hope concentrates is efforts in rural Afghanistan, where literacy levels are at their lowest. Unfortunately, rural areas are largely isolated from international humanitarian organizations, yet their needs are particularly great after decades of war and the added hardship of 5 years of devastating drought.

To support education in Afghanistan, School of Hope, with the help of a local partner in Afghanistan, Helping Afghan Farmers - HAFO, is currently providing funding to three schools in Ghazni Province for building reconstruction and furniture, school supplies, teacher salaries and on-going support. And, as part of its mission to increase cross-cultural understanding, School of Hope has developed a school-to-school program, creating direct bridges between U.S. and Afghan students and schools. This spring, teachers and students from New York Public School PS-3 raised funds that contributed to the reconstruction and furnishing of a school in Waghaz, Ghazni Province. As part of this program, the children from the New York and the Ghazni schools are communicating directly through letters and artwork.

Through her music Katya Grineva creates a space—a bridge—for understanding and healing between cultures and countries," said Zolaykha Sherzad, president of School of Hope. She and other School of Hope members have recently been in Afghanistan and will be at the concert, sharing their experience and perspectives.
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Katya Grineva is an award-winning pianist noted especially for her interpretations of the classical romantic repertoire. She has toured extensively in Europe and the Americas, offering recitals at some of the most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York and the Laurier Society in Paris. Grineva is also a long-time supporter of humanitarian causes. As a Russian, she is particularly proud to offer her talents in support of the rebuilding of Afghanistan.

Grineva will play a selection of romantic solos at the School of Hope concert, including works by Schubert-Liszt, Schubert, Ravel, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, and Chopin.