Artista de la Enseñanza

In a white-walled, sunlit room with arched ceilings, an El Sistema-inspired youth orchestra plays Gustav Mahler’s well-known “Bruder Martin” (“Frère Jacques”) theme—the third movement of his Symphony No. 1—under the direction of teaching artist/conductor Leila Weber. The two double bass players are six feet tall, around sixteen years old; the youngest cellist might be seven, and this is the second time she’s held a cello. Embedded among the second violins is a guest teaching artist from an orchestra based 500 miles away.

This was a Mus-e session at a public primary school in Genova, Italy, in a room filled with light, nervous energy and about 20 children in motion. Some moved eagerly. Some hung back. Some followed Olivia Giovannini, the teaching artist leading the session. Others wandered in their own rhythm. Throughout it all, something subtle was happening: no one was being excluded. 

El concepto de arte como acto de revolución -como medio para fomentar el cambio, estimular la conciencia e imaginar nuevas realidades- es tan antiguo como el propio arte. Por ejemplo, los tambores hacían sonar a otros invisibles, y las imágenes de las cuevas exploraban las relaciones de los individuos con especies animales conocidas y desconocidas.