Cultural Integration

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.

In 2016, Jigyasa Labroo was teaching in the conflict area of Kashmir, India. She brought a poetry exercise to her class of 60 girls that called for them to express their emotions. Jigyasa expected the regular childhood emotions of joy, wonder, and friendship to emerge; what came out instead was mostly pain, anger, isolation, and sadness. The room that day held a great deal of tension and hurt—but also some catharsis. At the end of class, she realized how important it was to create spaces for children to express themselves safely through the arts.