Annual Report 2025
Associação Musical Favela Brass
11 years of free music education in the favelas and public schools of Rio de Janeiro
11 years of free music education in the favelas and public schools of Rio de Janeiro
Favela Brass offers free music education to children and teenagers from the favelas and public schools of Rio de Janeiro. Founded in 2014, the organisation teaches brass and percussion instruments using its own curriculum and an internationally recognised certification. Students form bands that perform at festivals, theatres and events across Rio state and beyond.
Instagram @favela_brass
YouTube /favelabrass
2025 was the year Favela Brass came of age as an institution. With an average of 203 active students between our base in the Pereira da Silva favela and 8 municipal schools across Rio, we played 63 performances to over 27,000 people, from neighbourhood shows in the favela to stages like Bourbon Festival Paraty, the Copacabana Palace and the Rio International Film Festival.
The year was about more than the numbers. We took part in Impulso, an accelerator programme run by our main sponsor PRIO, which gave us concrete tools for governance and long-term sustainability. We restructured the team, renewed our partnership with PRIO, and ended the year with something we'd been chasing for a long time: a wing of a colonial mansion in the Largo do Curvelo, in Santa Teresa, where we'll have a new space for rehearsals, classes and events from 2026.
None of this would have happened without PRIO, our teachers and admin team, the students who turn up and put the work in, the families who trust us with them, and the donors, partners and volunteers who have walked alongside us. To all of you, our deepest thanks.
Tom Ashe, April 2026
Our annual cortejo through the lanes of the Pereira da Silva favela has been a tradition since 2014. Students come out in costume alongside their families and neighbours.
A tradition since 2014
Our students played the main stage at one of Brazil's biggest jazz festivals, to an audience of more than 10,000 people. They also led a procession through the colonial streets of the town and spent three days immersed in music.
4th consecutive year at the festival
A new partnership took our Banda Preta and Banda Roxa up into the mountains north of Rio. The students played open-air at Bosque dos Vales as part of an end-of-year tour that also passed through Resende and Teresópolis.
New partnership
For the ELA Verões event at the Copacabana Palace, we put together our Banda das Meninas (Girls' Band), made up exclusively of female students. The invitation was made possible by PRIO, our principal sponsor.
PRIO invitation
The short film O Som do Morro (22'), directed by Taylor Segrest, premiered at Latin America's biggest film festival. It documents a decade of Favela Brass through a vibrant collage of live music and interviews, culminating in a celebration at Circo Voador with a battle of bands featuring 10 brass blocos and fanfares from around Rio.
"Chorei o filme todo. Esse momento foi meio mágico, pois reconecta a gente com o nosso propósito. O que isso move nas pessoas é mágico!" - Raffaella Goi, conductor of Banda Amarela"I cried the whole way through. That moment was magical, because it reconnects you with your purpose. What it moves in people is magical."
Rio Film Festival 2025O Som do Morro (22'), directed by Taylor Segrest. Portuguese with English subtitles available.
"Achei emocionante e acho que a história da Favela Brass está só começando. Estou desde pequena no projeto e é muito bonito ver o projeto crescer."
"It moved me, and I think the story of Favela Brass is only just beginning. I've been in the project since I was little, and it's beautiful to see it grow."
Lúcia, trumpet student in Banda Preta, from the Pereira da Silva favela
We celebrated 11 years of Favela Brass at Clube dos Democráticos, in Rio's Lapa neighbourhood, with every band in the project on stage and guest brass bands Bloco Sofridão, Biquínis de Ogodô and Amigos da Cacilda.
350 people
We were selected for Impulso, PRIO's accelerator programme for the social organisations they already support. The programme included training and mentoring on management, financial sustainability and leadership development.
Accelerator programme
Free weekly brass and percussion lessons in 8 municipal schools and at our Centro Assunção base, using our own 8-level curriculum.
An average of 149 active students across 8 primary schools, with weekly classes held outside regular school hours. Each school receives instruments, teaching materials and a specialist teacher.
An average of 84 active students across 3 spaces in the favela, with advanced training including theory classes, instrument practice, band rehearsals and luthiery classes for deaf students.
3 former students returned as teachers: Henri, Nathan and Vinício.
Advanced students sit international certifications with the MTB (Music Teachers' Board, UK). Beginners sit internal exams in the same format. In 2025 we introduced music theory exams to prepare students for university entrance and military band competitions.
| Level | Trumpet | Trombone | Saxophone | Percussion | Tuba | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (internal) | 7 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 21 | |
| 2 (internal) | 4 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 20 | |
| 3 (MTB) | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 18 | |
| 4 (MTB) | 6 | 4 | 3 | 13 | ||
| 5 (MTB) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| 6 (MTB) | 3 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Total | 35 | 21 | 15 | 13 | 1 | 85 |
MTB = Music Teachers' Board (UK). Regulated by Ofqual (England's official qualifications regulator), with over 4,000 exam centres in 50+ countries. The system has 8 progressive levels, with level 8 equivalent to the entry requirement for university music courses. Exams are graded by specialists in the student's instrument.
All 22 students who sat external MTB exams passed. No failures in international exams since the programme began.
In 2025 we introduced music theory exams to prepare students for university entrance and military band competitions. The results below exclude diagnostic tests, which were used to stream students into classes.
| Round | Total | Distinction | Merit | Pass | Fail | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 (Jul 2025) | 24 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 83% |
| Level 2 (Feb 2026) | 36 | 8 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 92% |
Students who trained throughout the year posted strong results: 83% pass rate at level 1 and 92% at level 2.
Figures are in Brazilian Reais (R$). Public cultural funding came through Lei Rouanet, Brazil's federal cultural incentive law, which lets companies and individuals direct a portion of their tax to approved cultural projects.
Funds were ring-fenced for the project under Lei Rouanet rules, and fully executed in 2025.
In 2026, Favela Brass gains a new home at Largo do Curvelo, in the heart of Santa Teresa. The owner, Uwe Fabich (who also runs Pizzaria Zola), offered us a wing of his colonial mansion after watching us play during the Honk!Rio festival in November 2025.
The space will host rehearsals, classes and performances at one of the most beautiful and accessible spots in the neighbourhood, alongside our original base in the Pereira da Silva favela.
Associação Musical Favela Brass is governed by a Board of Directors made up of eight volunteer members. The board meets monthly to deliberate on strategy, approve accounts, and ensure the organisation stays true to its mission.
Day-to-day management is handled by the staff team, led by founder Tom Ashe, who reports directly to the board. This separation between governance and execution gives Favela Brass the transparency and institutional solidity the project deserves.
Board members serve renewable terms of up to six years.
Principal sponsor via Lei Rouanet. Thank you for believing in our project and investing in young people's lives through music.
Special thanks
Mirela Rampini
President (2020 to 2026)
Sômulo Mafra
Vice-President and Secretary (2020 to 2026)
Mirela and Sômulo have been with Favela Brass since the association was founded in 2020, giving their time and energy as volunteer board members and helping build the organisation that exists today. Thank you for everything.
Pereira da Silva Residents' Association
Centro Assunção, Santa Teresa
Lanchonete do Mazinho e Silvia
Lanchonete Galinhão da Mata
Padaria Le Petit Pain
Pizzaria do Hedi
Restaurante ABCD
Atados
Bourbon Street Music Club, São Paulo
Centro Assunção, Teresópolis
Donna Natureza
Mattos Filho
Pizzaria Zola / Uwe Fabich
Rio de Janeiro Municipal Department of Education
British Society of Rio de Janeiro
Friends of Favela Brass (United Kingdom)
Jugendmusikkorps der Stadt Bad Kissingen (Germany)
Music Teachers' Board (United Kingdom)
Taylor Segrest (USA)
