Spanish Translation

The NEOJIBA Youth Orchestra of Bahia, Brazil will embark on its seventh international tour this coming month. Students will perform nine concerts in Italy, Switzerland and France, beginning on 2 September in Torino, and finishing with an already sold-out concert at the Philharmonie de Paris.

Weeks seven and eight of my international adventure were spent in New Delhi visiting the Shubhendra and Saskia Rao Foundation. This husband-wife duo of internationally renowned musicians created the program Sangeet4All, a music education curriculum with the mission to empower and uplift people through the rich culture of Indian classical music.

At 5am on the 15th of July 2018, 17 members of Ghetto Classics set off from Korogocho destined for Kogelo, in Siaya County, in the Western part of Kenya. Ghetto Classics had been invited to perform with the Kenyan singing sensation Eric Wainaina at the opening ceremony of the Sauti Kuu Foundation – Sports and Recreation Centre.

The first building ever designed entirely for a Sistema-inspired program in the United States, the YOLA Center at Inglewood, is now under construction in Los Angeles.  The YOLA Center will be the fourth program site for the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, and will also provide space for citywide YOLA rehearsals and events. 

My second trip to Kenya was definitely one for the books: packed with dozens of class visits, several hundred students, and two of the most inspiring organizations that East Africa has to offer. Over the course of three weeks, I had the opportunity to work with two different Sistema-inspired organizations. The first half of my trip was spent with El Sistema Kenya.

Ghetto Classics Tree Planting: Taking advantage of the April rains in Nairobi, the Ghetto Classics students in Korogocho made the decision to improve their surroundings by planting trees.

The World Youth Choir (WYC) is an educational and social experience aimed at talented young singers between the ages of 17 and 26, from all over the world. Each year the WYC hosts summer and winter sessions, organised in different countries, taking young musicians on tour under the direction of renowned conductors.

Sistema New Zealand had its National Hui (gathering) on 30 June in Hamilton, central North Island of New Zealand. This biennial gathering included Sistema Whangarei, Sistema Aotearoa, Arohanui Strings and the hosts were Sistema Waikato. The New Zealand Rōpū (consortium) operates by a memorandum of understanding rather than by a centralised administration, and preparation for the event included Skype meetings to create the type of event and then to agree on shared repertoire.

This July, students from Ghetto Classics in Kenya will be performing at the Brave Festival in Poland, conducted by Radzimir Dębski (JIMEK), the world-famous Polish conductor. 

On June 27-28, Goshen College hosted the Great Lakes El Sistema Seminario in Goshen, Indiana.