Latin America

The National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela returned to Geneva this past April for a special performance at United Nations Headquarters, marking almost a decade since the visit of El Sistema founder Maestro José Antonio Abreu.

The Jameel Arts & Health Lab—the brainchild of the World Health Organization (WHO), New York University’s Steinhardt School, the non-profit organization Culturunners, and philanthropic foundation Community Jameel—was launched earlier this year with an ambitious mission: to research how the arts can improve the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities in some of the most challenging places around the world.

This month, the Ambassadors were asked to explore their daily lives in their programs. Our most recent entry explores ideas such as: 1) their daily routines outside of rehearsal; 2) what their rehearsal settings look and feel like; and 3) their relationships with their colleagues/instructors. We hope to share different slices of life from different corners of the world.

El Sistema programs, mark your calendars: the second Global Congress of El Sistema will be held at the Centro Nacional de Acción Social por la Música in Caracas, Venezuela on September 10–24, 2023.

There are not many cities—even world capitals—that have a government-supported program to develop children’s orchestras and choirs in public schools. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is one city that does have such a program: IBME, Instituto Brasileiro de Música e Educação, which helps to support youth and children’s ensembles in over fifty schools throughout the city.

As I began my career teaching Mexican music to children, the advent of multiculturalism promised increased representation but actually delivered narrow spaces that forced us into stereotypes, akin to Taco Tuesday at the cultural center. So I began to practice interculturalism, within which we took control of our own self-definition and expression. We studied our traditions from within and created bridges to people of various cultures directly.

Right away, during the program’s first year, positive effects were obvious. In fact, the music’s potential seemed to go beyond the ability to learn a new skill or develop cognitively; it seemed like a means to tackle all sorts of issues—self-esteem, tolerance, cooperation, communication, dialogue, self-care, self-determination, and so much more.

On November 5, 2021, an audience of three thousand packed the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires, Argentina for the premiere of a work that would have been deemed extraordinary under any circumstances: a brand new part-symphonic, part-operatic, part-pop musical theater show based on a child-centered fable written by a French aviator during the Second World War.

Maestro Peña’s music school concept was truly revolutionary in its academic structure. It represented a total curriculum change—different methodologies, new motivations, and participation across several orchestras and bands of different levels. However, the budget allocated by the University only supported a violin studio, a piano studio, and a singing studio. It would require a lot of resources to finance a music curriculum that featured teachers who specialized in all instruments, the purchase of those instruments, and reliable infrastructure.

I was happily surprised by the fresh air and vibrant energy the Caracas conference organizers were able to summon—even online. For three days, we were virtually sitting at the same table with our peers on faraway continents, listening to each other despite extreme time differences, learning, laughing, and growing. It was an instance when virtual technology allowed us to do something we had never actually done before.