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The Bolivars Bring Their New Sound to Russia

Anis Barnat, Associate Project Manager; Askonas Holt, and Founder, El Sistema Greece

01-08-2020

The Bolívars are back!

In December 2019, the 155-member Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, led by Maestro Christian Vasquez, were invited to perform in Russia. It was the first official tour since March 2017 for this orchestra, and a real celebration for their return to the international scene.

A Mexican Village Hosts an International Music Festival

Felix Alanis, Naolinco International Music Festival

11-06-2019

The Naolinco International Music Festival (Festival Internacional de Música Naolinco) is an annual summer music festival that takes place in the municipality of Naolinco, Veracruz, Mexico. The motto of the festival roughly translates to “the project that will gather all.” This motto expresses the idea that music can be a factor in bringing people together in order to work towards a common goal. The festival has become a project that goes beyond music making—it is a project for social change, since it gives people an opportunity to be united around a music project that now the community has embraced as its own.

The Global Leaders Plant a Musical Seed in Tlaxcala, Mexico

Raul Vergara, Cofounder and International Programs Director, Global Leaders Program

10-02-2019

Tlaxcala, located in the heart of Mexico, is one of the states with the greatest cultural activism in the country. In fact, it is a referent at the national level in terms of student participation of musical programs, a process inspired by the Venezuelan model “El Sistema”, which was first implemented in Tlaxcala 30 years ago. Within this process, the role of Casa de Música (Music Home)—an initiative of the Tlaxcalan Institute of Culture—has been very important, allowing for thousands the opportunity to approach a musical instrument through the different venues offered by the state.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach Project Meets The Network of Music Schools of Medellin

Claudia García, former La Red Teaching Artist and Coordinator of La Red activities at the Day of Action (Bach Project)

09-02-2019

It is not a secret to anyone that Medellin, Colombia had a number of violent years that left a trail of pain, death, and corruption. In the early ’90s, Medellin was named the most violent city in the world. More than 25 years later, Medellin´s face has changed; now it is a global example of innovation and development, and culture has played an important role in this social change. 

Music expanding horizons: FUNSINCOPA projects changing lives

Acela Julieta Márquez Soto, Global Leaders Program Cohort Member (Mexico)

08-02-2019

In March 2019, I had the opportunity, through the Global Leaders Program, to be part of the professors’ team of the FUNSINCOPA Summer Camp at Panama City. The summer camp is a development opportunity for students who are already part of one of the FUNSINCOPA orchestras, and also for prospective new students who may or may not have music knowledge.

A Bank of Musical Instruments To Transform Lives

María Claudia Parias Durán, Executive President, National Batuta Foundation

08-02-2019

I met Natalia García de Castro, Executive Director of the Siemens Colombia Foundation, one rainy morning in Bogota in March 2019. On that day, we began to work together to design innovative proposals in favor of children and young people who see in music an option for dignifying their existence.

EDITORIAL: How to Change the World—That’s All

Eric Booth, Publisher, The World Ensemble

07-02-2019

Why do some innovations make a lasting change in a field?  Think about Apple computers and iPhones.  Billy Beane’s 2002 Oakland Athletics baseball team that brought deep statistical analysis of players into the profession.  Venezuela’s El Sistema.

Teach a Man to Fish: Sonidos de la Tierra and the Power of Community Autonomy

Judith Sweet, Global Leaders Program Cohort Member (USA)

07-02-2019

It’s 4:30 on a Thursday afternoon in Quiindy, and the Gaete household is humming. Silvia is humming Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 while she prepares dinner for the family with her husband, Juan, who taps along rhythmically as he sets the table.

Announcing the launch of Music In Action Journal: A Knowledge Hub for the Frontlines of Music-For-Social-Action

Mariano Vales, Music Program Director, The Organization of American States and Mark Gillespie, Creative Director & Co-CEO, the OA Group

06-15-2019

When cultural historians reflect on the late 20th and early 21st centuries, one of the most significant paradigm shifts noted will be the explosion of music-for-social-action initiatives across the globe. Inspired by the work of pioneering figures including Jorge Peña Hen, José Antonio Abreu, Ana Milena Muñoz de Gaviria, Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg, Ricardo Castro, and others, largely in Latin America, the centuries-old platform of the symphony orchestra has found renewed purpose at the epicenter of grassroots transformations from inner-city Port-Au-Prince to rural Canada, from Scotland to Kenya, from Jamaica to Honduras.

Orquesta de Peñalolén:  A Source of Community Pride in Santiago, Chile

Cristian Sottolichio Leighton, Institutional Relations Director for Chimkowe Cultural Center

06-02-2019

The Peñalolén Orchestras Program began in 2000 as a social program dedicated to the ideas that children are most important, and that their instruments are the bridge to improve their quality of life. With a very small budget, we are installed in a municipal school in the neighborhood of Lo Hermida, the Antonio Hermida Fabres School.  Formed as a result of the eradication of the most vulnerable neighborhoods from more affluent communes, Peñalolén is a populous low-income community with serious problems of poverty and vulnerability.

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