Week 29: Big Noise Celebrates Its 2nd Birthday

 Stage is set at Alberts Hall for Big Noise Birthday Celebration Concert

The big day has finally arrived! After an incredible volunteer crew of parents and community members loaded and unloaded 90 stringed-instruments and chairs for Alberts Halls, the stage is set for a joyous Big Noise Birthday celebration.  A screen above the stage projects a slide show of each child posing proudly with his or her instrument and the surprise confetti launcher hangs from the trusses ready to release an explosion of confetti for the finale piece, Big Joy, arranged by Big Noise teacher Joelle Fenna.

Buses pick-up the excited 90 young musicians at Raploch Community Center as family members wave goodbye, cheering them on.  What has been most impressive is the seamless coordination of so many logistics!  This 2nd Birthday celebration not only highlights the two Big Noise student orchestras, but also the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Stirling City Choir who perform side-by-side.


The vision of Big Noise is big and they accomplish it every step of the way with a cohesive board, generous donors and supportive partnerships with Stirling Council, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and FESNOJIV.  During the month that I interned, Big Noise more than doubled its teaching staff from 8 to 17 to prepare for an expansion from an all-string orchestra to one with percussion, brass and winds.  The team will travel to Venezuela together for one week in June to experience and learn from the nucleos in Caracas.  My hope is that as more teams from around the world travel to Venezuela for inspiration and understanding that we share what we've learned with each other so that we can collectively build upon our knowledge base. 

Many thanks to Nicola Killean (photo on right), Director of Big Noise, for her vision and collaborative approach to leadership.

Before leaving Raploch and returning to Boston for the final week of the fellowship, I shared with the Big Noise staff the many ways in which they honor children and provide them a structured and safe musical environment.  Here is a list of prevention strategies that are tried and true among music and classroom teachers to prevent behavioral problems:

• Give students multiple opportunities to contribute to the well being of the class, school and community
• Create a positive climate through celebrations and acknowledge success
• Ensure that alternatives and choices are available
• Organize your environment so that students' basic needs are satisfied
• Model what you expect
• Make sure your lessons have an emotional hook
• Establish and teach a system of signals
• Catch the students being good
• Provide a structured environment so that students can be more self-sufficient and empowered in their learning
• Use reinforcing, reminding and refocusing language
• Establish and nurture classroom and program-wide routines/rituals, rules and reinforcements of pro-social, caring, relationships
• Teach social skills, self-control strategies and ways for promoting empathy for others

Thank you everyone at Big Noise for making my internship such a welcoming one filled with learning and sharing.  You have much to celebrate!  Congratulations!

Ysla helps conduct one of the kids' favorite piece written by Joelle called Mission Mars

Big Noise celebration ends with a bang of confetti
(photo by Marc Marnie)

The incredible Big Noise teaching staff and volunteers

Week 28: Exploring Issues Facing Teaching-Artist Training

The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland

As part of my internship here at Big Noise, I was invited to present for the Scottish Arts Council and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) on current issues facing teaching artist training in the United States, my Abreu Fellowship and recent travels in Venezuela.

My presentation focused on the national projects and ideas that have inspired the work we do in Alaska, including the Minneapolis School District Arts for Academic Achievement program. This successful program has developed an Artful Teaching and Learning Handbook through the Perpich Center for Arts Education (downloadable for free) which provides resources to help build respectful communication and collaboration between teachers and artists. 

At Glacier Valley Elementary School in Juneau, Alaska, this handbook has bridged community artist with classroom teacher to help create more successful arts-integrated experiences for our students. Artists come away with more classroom management skills and developmentally appropriate practices, while classroom teachers learn arts techniques and creative approaches to integrating the arts into other disciplines. We've documented our work on our Art is Elementary website.

The following questions emerged from the discussions after each presentation: 

1. What existing models are out there that support pedagogical/social skills for artists wishing to engage in community projects?
2. What are the views of arts educators concerning training?  Do you think there is a need for this kind of training?
3. What are the major issues that need to be addressed and how should such training be best delivered?

Also from these discussions, I learned that a challenge facing teaching artists in both the US and UK is having to combat the old adage, "Those who can, do and those who can't, teach." Are you less of an artist if you choose to share your art form with youth and the community?

In Venezuela, nothing could be further from the truth. Being a musician means being a teacher, which is encouraged from day one in the nucleo. If a student knows how to play four notes, then he or she can teach someone who only knows three notes. When asked, these teaching artists will tell you that teaching better informs their playing and performing better informs their teaching. It's a win-win situation that betters the individual and community. By the time they are teenagers, these skilled musicians are not only playing at a high level of musicianship, but also running sectionals, providing individual lessons and conducting younger orchestras. They are passionately committed to their art AND their community, which does not go unnoticed by the public.  For example, after performances at the nucleos, teachers are often called to the stage and recognized by the students and audience members who applaud like a sports team coming onto the field. It's amazing to watch.

Perhaps by taking on the Venezuelan approach, we can usher in a new adage: "Those who can, contribute to their community."

I would love to hear comments from others on the questions and thoughts posed above.  Please feel free to post a comment to continue the conversation.

Thank you, Joan Parr, Head of Education for the Scottish Arts Council, and Mary Troup, Community Music Co-ordinator of RSAMD, for organizing these presentations. The work that both of you are doing for community arts education in Scotland are forward-thinking and inspirational.

Weeks 25 & 26: Raploch, Scotland - Making Big Noise

Members of the incredible Big Noise staff in Raploch, Scotland

What an exciting time to be interning at Big Noise! This organization is gearing up for its 2nd Birthday Concert on June 6th and will be making even more noise next year when it expands its string orchestra to include brass, woodwind and percussion sections filled by older elementary students.

Since arriving here on May 10th, I have been impressed by the many ways in which Big Noise makes music accessible to all students. In partnership with FESNOJIV, Stirling Council, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Drake Music Scotland, Scottish Arts Council and three primary schools housed at the Raploch Community Center, Big Noise serves over 90 children between the ages of 6 and 10 through after-school orchestras and 100 nursery school children, 30 kindergartners and 30 children with special needs during the school day. They also began "The Noise" orchestra last summer for adults in the Raploch community. All of this occurs three days out of the week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays where each child in the orchestra experiences full orchestra rehearsals, sectionals and individual lessons.

I have been learning so much, especially in the early childhood classes where Aimee, Helen, Jennifer and Ysla (in photo above holding a paper violin) help prepare these little ones for a successful transition into instrumental music. Jennifer has an early years certification in Colour Strings, which is a Kodaly-based method established in Finland 40 years ago that teaches musical concepts using colors and shapes. More and more schools in Scotland are adopting this system to help all students successfully transition to musical notation. Drake Music Scotland is piloting the project (called FigureNotes). I'm looking forward to learning more about this pedagogy through Jennifer's work with the strings.

Aimee plays cello to a spellbound toddler

Jennifer works with the Big Noise Orchestra, ages 6 - 10

Helen gives a private cello lesson

I would like to thank the entire Big Noise staff for being so welcoming! They have opened their classrooms and rehearsals to me, shared their practices and ideas and made me feel a part of the team. I'd also like to thank the Scottish Arts Council for funding my lodging at Auchyle Guest House, which is just a couple blocks from Big Noise and the Raploch Community Campus. Mandi and Tom, owners of this beautiful bed & breakfast, have treated me like family.

Mandi stands in front of her B&B: Auchyle Guest House

Here is a list of where the other fellows are interning:

Christine: Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA)
Dantes: Baltimore Symphony OrchKids
David: Verdugo Young Musicians Association
Jonathan: City Music Cleveland
Katie: Harmony Program
Rebecca: Renaissance Arts Academy
Stanford: YOURS Project

Weeks 23 & 24: Composing Change - YOLA & the El Sistema Movement

Alvaro and I ready to start Composing Change in the US

I have just returned from an incredible symposium, Composing Change: YOLA and the El Sistema Movement, held in Los Angeles and hosted by the LA Phil in partnership with El Sistema USA and the League of American Orchestras. Thank you, Dan Berkowitz, Leni Boostin and Gretchen Nielsen for organizing such an inspiring program!

As part of the symposium, the Abreu Fellows shared our experiences in Venezuela, including this short movie that I made to document how a child as young as two years old might prepare for and progress through the orchestra in an El Sistema nucleo. Afterward, many people asked if they could use this film to share with their communities at home. So, here it is.  You can also access it on Youtube:  El Sistema:  Venezuela's Youth Progress through the Orchestra



Over 250 music educators, musicians and delegates from youth orchestras and organizations attended the symposium, representing 26 states (Hawaii and Alaska included) and 6 countries! It was an honor to be in attendance and be able to share the Abreu Fellows' insights from our combined visits to over 60 nucleos throughout Venezuela. My part of the presentation reiterated the impressions that I had shared with Dr. Abreu during our last week in Venezuela:

Continuity and Unified Vision:   At the nucleos where our team visited, there was always an orchestra or ensemble to meet each child at his or her musical level.  More importantly,  no gaps existed between one orchestra and the next, but rather a continuum of musical support from the baby classes all the way through adulthood, ensuring that no skills were lost in the interim.  Every teacher works toward a strong, unified vision.  For example, the early childhood teachers know how the skills they are teaching in their classes will manifest themselves in the kind of high level musicianship we see in the Simon Bolivar B Orchestra.  In the United States, we have so many different community and school musical experiences available to children.  We could benefit from the Venezuelan model by exploring ways to connect these offerings into one continuous conveyor belt of musical support, making sure our young musicians always have a place to "tocar y luchar" (play and strive).

 At La Rinconada Nucleo, a 2-year old practices steady beat

Trust in Our Youth and Culture of Sharing:  Rebecca and I had opportunities to give workshops to teachers in each Venezuelan state we visited.  Our last one was held in Caracas, on a Saturday morning for 4 hours.  We were amazed at how young the 40 participants were - many still teenagers or in their early twenties. When I asked, "Are all of these participants teachers?" the response from one teacher was, "Many of them are students becoming teachers" (see photo below). This is just one example of how El Sistema brings its youth into the fold and places trust in them as educators at an early age.  The doors to professional development are open to everyone, as well as the doors to classrooms, materials and teaching practices.  Every teacher gladly shared what they had with us wherever we went.  It was an overwhelming gesture that I hope we can foster in the states.  This culture of sharing and collaboration can only improve the musical experiences we provide for our children.

 Some of the young participants at the teacher training workshop in Caracas

Start Early and Place No Limits:  Josbel and the teachers at La Rinconada are responsible for creating the Paper Orchestra concept and are continually testing out new ideas so that children can successfully access music-making at a very young age.   They embody the words that Josbel shared with the Abreu Fellows during our first week in Caracas:  "There are no limits on our creativity as teachers."  When I think of teachers who approach their work as an art form, I think of the incredible teaching staff at La Rinconada.  An important message I will bring back with me to Juneau came from Israel who teaches violin at La Rinconada (photo below).  When I asked him what should people in the United States know about El Sistema, he said, "Never place limits on what a child can do.  He or she is a musician from the very start."  Before coming to Venezuela, I was so worried about being able to teach violin to an entire class of kindergartners,  but after seeing much younger classes with more children and a variety of instrumentation, I know it can and has been done.

Rebecca and I with some of the inspirational teachers at
Nucleo La Rinconada: Amilcar, Josbel, Veronica and Israel

My fellow colleague, Christine Witkowski, also addresses El Sistema's philosophy of starting early and placing no limits on a child in her posting entitled, 8-15 Year Olds Take on the Titans which recounts the rehearsals we saw of the National Children's Orchestra of Venezuela.  Very inspiring!  Muchas gracias El Sistema teachers, staff and students for giving me these incredible experiences to take back with me.

Tonight I leave for Scotland! That's right! Tomorrow I begin my one-month internship with Big Noise, an El Sistema-inspired program in the Raploch area of the city of Stirling supported by Sistema Scotland and the Scottish Arts Council. I am very excited to intern here because Big Noise partners with its local schools both during and after the school day, which is a model I plan to bring back to Juneau, Alaska. Thank you, Scottish Arts Council and the New England Conservatory for your financial support of this internship.

Week 22: Barquisimeto Nucleo - It's About Heart

 Rebecca, David and I with the White Hands Choir, made up of a group that signs and a group that sings.

These past two weeks, our team visited the nucleo of Barquisimeto, the same center where Gustavo Dudamel first learned how to play the violin (an accomplishment this musical community is very proud of evident by the huge Dudamel banners hanging from the nucleo's walls). But Dudamel is just one source of their pride: Barquisimeto boasts nine orchestras, nine choirs - from toddler to adult - and a special needs program that was piloted here before spreading nationally to 19 nucleos with 19 more on the way.

When I asked Alfredo D'Addona, the nucleo director of Barquisimeto, "What's the most important thing you would want people to know about this nucleo?" his immediate response was,  "Heart. It's about heart."  His words embody so much of what we've seen and heard not only in Barquisimeto, but in all of the nucleos during our travels throughout Venezuela.

It's impossible for me to do justice to this concept of "heart" in words, so I hope you'll watch this short 4-minute video dedicated to Alfredo D'Addona and the staff, students and parents of the Barquisimeto nucleo.  I highlighted many of the special needs programs, but specifically tried to capture the heart of this nucleo with surprise footage at the end. The rest of the blog gives more details into the incredible work Barquisimeto is doing.  Thank you, Barquisimeto, for opening your doors and hearts to the Abreu Fellows.



Barquisimeto's Special Needs Program offers a wide range of musical opportunities including percussion ensembles and piano lessons, bell choirs and an a cappella quintet. They also run a braille printing service that translates everything from Harry Potter to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony for its students and even takes international requests. What's wonderful about these programs is that they are fully integrated, creating an atmosphere of inclusion throughout the building. In each ensemble, a team of teachers works together, modeling the power and joy of collaboration for their students. For example, Naybeth and Luis lead the two choruses that make up the White Hands Choir. While Naybeth and the young people with hearing impairments "sing" through sign language, Luis conducts the voices of students who are sight-impaired or have cognitive or physical disabilities. However, in the spirit of true integration, there are also students without any disabilities in both groups.

 With Dudamel as the backdrop, Rebecca and Jamie Bernstein talk to Daniel, a student at the Barquisimeto nucleo.

The Baby Choir warms-up singing solfege along with hand signs.

Gabriel demonstrates how he writes his music theory homework in Braille, punching hole by hole.

It's All In the Family: Many of Barquisimeto's teachers and staff grew up together in El Sistema, playing side-by-side in the orchestra as children. The feel of the nucleo, like many we have seen, is one of a big, happy family. Today as administrators and teachers, they remain close friends (some married to one another) and have a shared experience that provides a clear, unified vision for their work. Many also continue to play, striking what can be a difficult balance between being a musician and working as an administrator. For example, Alfredo can be found most mornings rehearsing with the Lara Symphony Orchestra, which prepares a weekly Thursday night concert. Conveniently, the rehearsal space is located at the nucleo, so after packing up his trumpet, Alfredo can walk across the parking lot and begin his administrative work before teaching in the afternoon and evening.

 Alfredo D'Addona stands outside the nucleo with the Abreu Fellows.

(below his wife, Libia, conducts the Symphonic Choir)

Partnerships: Barquisimeto is unique in that the nucleo shares its building with the Conservatory. With over 3,000 students attending the nucleo alone, space is limited. The inside courtyard handles the overflow beautifully and brims with musical activity in every corner. On Fridays, there is no symphony rehearsal because most of the players teach at the nucleo or conservatory. That teaching time is generally reserved for the highest-level students, many of whom travel from outlying areas to learn techniques that they can share with the less advanced students in their home orchestra.

 The inside courtyard of Barquisimeto nucleo

A cello sectional takes place in the reception area of the nucleo.

A percussion teacher holds an individual lesson in one of the corners of the courtyard.

On our last day, as we were finishing up our last meeting, we heard the sounds of an orchestra tuning up.  As we followed the sounds outside, we saw crowds gathering in front of a chorus made up of children and their parents.  We had no idea that the nucleo was preparing for the arrival of its city's patron saint.  But before long, the procession showed up, led by La Divina Pastora herself.   As I looked around at the musicians mixed in with the community members, I thought about the impact that Alfredo and his "family" have had on their city and feel grateful to have been a part of this nucleo for two weeks.  Muchas gracias para todo! 

Outside the nucleo, the orchestra and choirs prepare for the processional of Barquisimeto's patron saint, La Divina Pastora.

Week 21: Early Childhood Programs - Never Too Early to Start

When I first started researching El Sistema, most of what I could find online was footage of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel - both never cease to amaze me, but as an elementary music teacher, I wanted to know how they got there. What were these exceptional musicians doing at 5 or 10 years old in their local nucleo?

After observing ten different sites throughout Venezuela this past month, I now have a better picture of what their experiences might have looked like. Rodrigo Guerrero, International Affairs Coordinator of FESNOJIV, shared with me in Caracas that most of the nucleos begin their programs for children between the ages of 6 and 8, but that they hope to expand their programming to reach even younger children.

La Rinconada and Maracay are doing just that. These two nucleos are recognized for their early childhood programs, including classes for parents and toddlers. I also observed a Mozart Orchestra in Barquisimeto that had children playing brass and woodwind instruments as young as 4 years old! Like the miniature stringed instruments seen in most nucleos, Barquisimeto provides smaller brass instruments to fit the hands of these very young musicians. Even though you’ll see one or two students struggling with an instrument that’s just too big for them, it's been obvious to us throughout our travels that the nucleos are dedicated to meeting children where they are.

Before sharing a 3-minute movie clip highlighting the early childhood instrumental programs at La Rinconada, Barquisimeto and Maracay, I wanted to share a few observations:

Human Values: Cesar Rangel, the President of OSA (Orquesta Sinfonica de Aragua) shared this: "The magic of the system is human values. The orchestra provides that." The early musicianship classes focus on these values.  Children learn to take turns, respect their instruments and care for their fellow classmates.

Child-Size Instruments: Although the general rule across El Sistema for wind instruments is to wait until the child's permanent teeth come in, we saw children as young as 4 and 5 years old in Barquisimeto playing these instruments, miniature-sized. When asked how teachers deal with the "missing teeth" problem, the answer is: wait until the process is complete and then start up again. The recorder still plays an introductory role for wind instruments, as well as helps develop pitch discrimination for all of its young musicians.

Paper Orchestra Debate: Many of the teachers in the nucleos of both states of Lara and Aragua have not heard of the Paper Orchestra concept. When we explained that in Caracas the Paper Orchestra is used as a pedagogical step before a child plays an instrument (see La Rinconada posting for more details), one of the violin teachers in Maracay responded, " El Sistema is about getting instruments into the hands of children at an early age."  She felt that a paper instrument might confuse the child, rather than help prepare them.  Interesting contrast. So far, Caracas is the only place where we've seen the Paper Orchestra. 

Solfege and Singing: In an earlier post, I shared that the nucleos we've visited view singing as an important precursor to playing an instrument because it helps develop the ear. Singing and solfege continue to play a key role in the early orchestras as well. When practicing a melody or rhythmic pattern on their instruments, these younger classes alternate between singing lyrics, solfege and playing their instrument.

Parent Investment: Many of the baby classes have parents learning right alongside their child or participating in a parents only orchestra or chorus class. These classes have a specific purpose: to strengthen support at home for the child's musical development.

Student/Teacher Ratio: El Sistema's core value of investing early couldn't be more evident in their student-teacher ratio. Wherever we go, these young orchestras have on average a teacher or teaching assistant for every six children! Nucleos also invest in their young adults by giving them teaching roles and responsibilities. Becoming a teacher is a much sought after goal by these young musicians and considered quite an honor.

Week 20: Cultural Exchange in the State of Aragua

Students Outside Cagua Nucleo

The staff and faculty of FESNOJIV (El Sistema) have been incredible hosts to the Abreu Fellows and have given us so much information and inspiration. Now in Aragua, we have a chance to give back.

While visiting five different nucleos throughout the state, Rebecca, David and I have been able to teach classes to students and adults, including a workshop in Maracay focused on singing games and dances for teachers coming from all over Aragua. These five nucleo sites are:

Cagua: We were fortunate to attend the opening ceremony of Cagua's new site along with their honored guest, Dr. Abreu! This nucleo has a very strong orchestra and Venezuelan Folk Music program, which is an extraordinary feat considering the students have been playing their instruments for just one year. The nucleo began in September 2008 in a school building across the street.

Colonia Tovar: This town was founded in 1843 by a group of German settlers who recreated their homeland in the Venezuelan mountains. The nucleo of 300 uses the university during the weekend and a church during the weekdays for its orchestra and choir rehearsals. One unique component of this nucleo is its lutiere training program for string instruments. With 21 students and 6 teachers, this workshop serves the entire state of Aragua.

La Victoria: While their space downtown is being renovated, this nucleo is being temporarily housed in a post-independence colonial home. With an enclosed courtyard and enough rooms to house 650 students, the nucleo echoes with the music of choirs, cellos and even electric cuatros. Rebecca, David and I were treated to mini-concerts throughout the center, including an early childhood program sung in English and Spanish.

Maracay: This nucleo has the most comprehensive program in Aragua and is recognized for its early childhood program. In one evening alone, we observed a toddler program (1 to 3 year olds) packed with moms and dads tapping sticks together with their child to the beat of Mozart; a beginning orchestra for parents learning alongside their child and a strings program for 1 to 6 year old children bowing a rhythm together on their miniature instruments. This strings program has 90 students enrolled with 30 of them still in diapers!

San Vicente: This nucleo is situated next to the largest garbage dump in the state of Aragua. San Vicente serves about 250 children, many whose families work in and live around the dump. After working in a building at the dump's entrance, the local government provided FESNOJIV with a building designed specifically for the community's musical needs, including beautifully hung artwork throughout the center.

Wherever we go, nucleo directors and staff have opened their doors to us, taken time to be interviewed, shared their programs and invited us to watch their classes. In return, Rebecca and I were thrilled to be able to share some of the musical songs, games and dances that my students back in Juneau, Alaska request over and over again. With Rebecca translating in Spanish, we taught at each nucleo and held an evening workshop for teachers from all over the state - some whom had traveled over an hour to get to Maracay. Thank you to both Alvaro and Rebecca for translating several of the songs into Spanish.

I'd like to dedicate this 3-minute video documenting our cultural exchange to the incredible teachers of the nucleos in Aragua, as well as to the staff and students at Glacier Valley Elementary School who will recognize the tune of these songs now sung in Spanish.

Teacher Workshop Participants in Maracay, March 2010

Week 19: Latin Music - A Common Thread

After two weeks in Venezuela, the Abreu Fellows have visited many nucleos, attended concerts and met with key FESNOJIV administrators and teachers in Caracas, Guarico and Miranda who keep this incredible network of music centers operating and growing throughout Venezuela. Now in our third week, we've split into three groups to travel to different areas of the country. First stop:

State of Aragua: David, Lorrie & Rebecca; State of Guarico: Alvaro, Christine, Katie & Dan; and State of Merida: Dantes, Jonathan & Stan

My team is based in Aragua's capital of Maracay where we have visited four nucleos: La Victoria, Cagua, Maracay and San Vicente. In total, since arriving to Venezuela we have observed nine nucleos, all unique and reflective of their communities.

One surprising thread that I have seen running through all of the nucleos is Latin music. I was prepared to observe high caliber orchestras playing classical repertoire (and wasn't disappointed), but didn't expect to see equal attention paid to Latin classical and folk music. Without fail, every nucleo was incorporating some aspect of Latin influence - whether through dance, song, instrumentation or orchestral pieces. The joy, energy and enthusiasm that the students express when playing this music are contagious.

I've tried to capture this spirit in a short iMovie representing the nucleos I've visited. In less than 4 minutes, you will see fourteen unique experiences representing ages from three to thirty including:

• youth choirs singing works by Venezuelan Alberto Grau, who incorporates movement into his compositions;
• an electric cuatro as part of a duet;
• Venezuelan folk music ensembles playing traditional instruments - Criolla harp, cuatro, mandolas, guitar, mandolin and maracas;
• the White Hands Choir, composed of deaf students, who sign the words their peers are singing (See Christin's blog for more information on the special needs program in Guarico);
• dancing violinists, cellists and horns and:
• a 500-member performance of the Venezuelan national anthem integrating all of the diverse music programs offered in Guarico.
  

Muchas gracias, FESNOJIV, staff, faculty and students for inspiring all of us! Viva La Musica!

What about Percussion, Woodwinds and Brass?

A reader asked in an earlier blog, "At what point do students start learning wind and percussion instruments?" This has been a big question on the minds of the fellows as well. Back in Boston, we'd hear from varying sources that kids might start on brass and woodwinds as early as age six, but what about the challenges of developing lungs and missing front teeth?

During our visits to the nucleos of Montalban and La Rinconada, I asked about this topic and was given answers specific to these two sites. One thing we are learning from our time here in Caracas is that nothing is written in stone and each nucleo is unique, so I preface by saying that this information is specific to Montalban and La Rinconada at this particular moment in time. El Sistema is flexible and continually responds to its students through a collaborative teaching process (see previous posting on this subject). Dantes and Jonathan also posted responses to Dr. Abreu's statement of "El Sistema as no system" in their blogs and both are worthwhile reading.

Recorder and Choir: Laying the Foundation

Percussion is a part of the early childhood classes from the beginning where they learn rhythmic and melodic notation and solfege in a fixed do system. Students also learn to play the recorder as early as five years old to help with intonation and pitch discrimination. The recorder serves as a precursor to the wind instruments. Generally, students don't begin playing a brass or woodwind instrument until they have their permanent front teeth - so it depends on the child.

Oftentimes, it's the recorder that helps students learn to sing in tune. Half the students will sing, while the other half accompanies them on the recorder or everyone plays the first verse and sings the second. It's in these early childhood classes where the musical foundation is laid and discipline, focus and attention are developed to prepare for the demands of the orchestra rehearsal. Students who enter the nucleo at an older age need to sing in choir for one or two years before starting an instrument.

Children Changing Instruments:

Many of the fellows wondered what the process was regarding a child's wish to switch instruments. Rodrigo Guerrero explained that El Sistema allows children to change instruments, but the decision is taken seriously. Here are the steps:

1. Teacher talks with the student to find out if his or her decision is based on a physical or attitudinal change and is more than just a casual thought.
2. Student and instructor discuss the reasons with the nucleo director.
3. If an instrument is available, the child has a trial period with the new instrument.
4. Ultimately, the goal is student engagement.

And engagement is what we are seeing at all levels throughout the nucleo. As these young musicians advance in skill level, there is an ensemble ready to meet them. In my posting on Montalban, I documented the orchestras offered there. In this video, you'll see a progression from the early musicianship class and two levels of recorder, to a choir and an advanced wind ensemble. It's a short video, so I hope you'll watch the very last clip of a recorder solo from a 5 year-old at Montalban.

Week 18: The Abreu Fellows Meet Their Namesake

As we travel to different nucleos throughout Caracas, we are discovering that each site is unique and flexibly adapts its planning to meet the  needs of its children and community.  In fact, Dr. Abreu himself explained that El Sistema is not a system, but rather a living, breathing program that continues to grow and develop through the collaboration of many generations of its teachers.

The process may vary, but the goal set forth by Dr. Abreu is constant: "creating better human beings." This mission drives the decisions of its teachers and permeates the walls of every nucleo we visit. We hear it in the impassioned voices of the young nucleo directors and teachers (not much older than their students) and see it in the determined faces of children in the orchestra focused so intently on the music that they seem unaware of the crammed spaces and stifling heat. 

Folks who had visited Venezuela and its nucleos told us the experience would be life-changing and now I see why:  it's become commonplace to enter a room of a nucleo and be deeply affected by music played in ensemble by hundreds of kids.  Each nucleo is living out Dr. Abreu's conviction that "the culture for the poor cannot be a poor culture."

When we met Dr. Abreu last week, he confessed that he had created a scandal when he first insisted that El Sistema be enrolled in the Ministry of Social Development, rather than the Ministry of Culture.  He expressed to the President of Venezuela at that time that he wanted only one thing: "To have the state acknowledge that this (El Sistema) is a social program and as an artist, I demand that my art be dignified with the mission of creating better human beings."

His teachers are living proof of that.  Having lived through El Sistema as children, they are now the young teachers and directors of the 180 nucleos across Venezuela.  Their collaborative teaching spirit creates an environment of constant learning and sharing, which is why we won't find a how-to-manual here.   Dr. Abreu left us with words I imagine he shares with any new nucleo director or teacher:

We will not give you a manual or dictate what you should do.  What we want you to do is to live with us for a while in the most chaotic possible way.  See schools with different programs and look at the interactions of the orchestras and their community so that you can see how this happens, make a concept of your own and find a way to incorporate yourself as you see fit into the process.

Thank you, Dr. Abreu and FESNOJIV for opening the doors of your nucleos to the Abreu Fellows. Your musical "chaos" is restructuring the way we think.

Week 17: Montalban - Witnessing Support Every Step of the Way

After visiting the El Sistema nucleos of La Rinconada and Montalban, I feel as though I have witnessed the power of what Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone terms the "conveyor belt" strategy. This strategy focuses on providing children with a continuous network of support from infancy through high school so that progress made in one program is not lost in a gap of service between the next.

From La Rinconada's Baby Vivaldi program for parents and their 2-year olds to the many nucleo youth orchestras varying in age range and skill, the goals among staff at all levels were quite clear: meet the children where they are and provide opportunities throughout their time in the nucleo to develop tools for life and to feel a sense of advancement through hard work.


At Montalban, we moved from one room to the next, listening to the incredible performances of the different ensembles and experiencing first hand how each orchestra built and expanded upon the skills of the previous one. In just a matter of one hour, we had traveled through the musical life of a child attending Montalban from ages six through seventeen!

Here is a short iMovie I created to document this progression:

On Saturday, we returned to Montalban to watch the early childhood classes for ages three through six, a component of El Sistema that many of us are convinced is largely responsible for the high level of discipline and musical skill we are seeing in the older grades. As Frank di Pollo, one of the founding members of El Sistema put it, "That is the system - teaching 3-year olds. That's what is most important."

James Heckman, Nobel Prize-winning University of Chicago Economics Professor, couldn't agree more. His research is referenced in Whatever It Takes, an account of the Harlem Children's Zone and validates many of El Sistema's objectives. He found that social skills such as persistence, attentiveness and impulse control when combined at an early age "help create capable and productive citizens."

Much like we saw at La Rinconada, these young students were developing those same skills through play: waiting for the right moment in the song to shake their egg maracas, listening to the first few notes of a piece played on the recorder to see who could guess it's title and always making music together as a group. We saw all of these skills played out in more sophisticated ways in the older grades as intense focus on the music and conductor, waiting quietly for considerable amounts of time for another section to rehearse and playing passionately together as an orchestra.

El Sistema has hit the mark on so many levels: from investing in early childhood and instrumental music to offering a consistent "conveyor belt" of services through after-school hours and ensembles that encourage children to advance.

After gathering research from economists, sociologists, psychologists and neuroscientists for Whatever It Takes, author Paul Tough writes in the afterword why a program like the Harlem Children's Zone is so promising:

To change the trajectory of a poor child in an inner-city neighborhood, this research shows, you need to: intervene early in the child’s life, continue to intervene throughout adolescence; give him extra time in school and extra support outside of school; involve his parents if possible but be prepared to compensate for their absence; focus on improving his cognitive skills but also nurture his noncognitive, social and emotional skills.

This quote could very well be about El Sistema.

Thank you, FESNOJIV, Rodrigo Guerrero and the staff and students from La Rinconada and Montalban for opening your doors to your classrooms, curriculum and our questions!