Conference 2024: Closing Luncheon

Speaker(s): Ann S. Graham, Immediate Past Executive Director, Texans for the Arts and Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, Founder and Director, Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM)

The Conference concluded with a luncheon featuring Resilient Sounds, a Houston Symphony project—in partnership with Rice University, University of Houston, and Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston—celebrating the determination and hope of Houston’s refugee communities. Former composer-in-residence Jimmy López Bellido shared his vision in founding this innovative new program and introduced a live performance of What It Takes to Thrive by Patrick W. Lenz, with words by Logan Butcher and narration and acting by Muhammad Yunus-Khaerisman, conducted by Gonzalo Farias, Assistant Conductor, Houston Symphony.

We also heard from Dr. Ahmad Naser Sarmast, Founding Director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), which fled Taliban-occupied Kabul for Lisbon, where the entire school community was not only granted asylum but also invited to resettle and rebuild.

The Closing Luncheon was generously co-sponsored by Threshold Acoustics and YPTC (Your Part Time Controller). Photo Credit: Melissa Taylor