{"id":17826,"date":"2014-10-14T14:17:03","date_gmt":"2014-10-14T17:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=17826"},"modified":"2017-04-12T11:23:56","modified_gmt":"2017-04-12T14:23:56","slug":"classical-is-not-dead-orchestras-give-new-perspectives-to-favela-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=17826","title":{"rendered":"Classical is Not Dead: Orchestras Bring New Perspectives to Favela Youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Mothers in\u00a0Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/a> worry about their children’s idle time after they are released from school at midday<\/a>. Sent home before\u00a0lunch, and with a whole afternoon lacking structured\u00a0activities, kids are in danger of being introduced\u00a0to counter-productive activities.<\/p>\n

To compensate for the state’s absence, civil society organizations<\/a> offer\u00a0activities and clubs in the afternoon in an effort to present new vocations to young people in the favela or\u00a0simply offering a hobby to occupy the attention of otherwise idle kids.<\/p>\n

In the maelstrom of music coming out of the favelas, after-school activities\u00a0focused on Brazilian genres like\u00a0funk<\/a>, samba<\/a> and forr\u00f3<\/a> are often showcased as\u00a0attractive alternatives to life on the streets. Classical music is usually dismissed as unattractive,\u00a0inaccessible or elitist.<\/p>\n

It is in this context that\u00a0Carlos Eduardo Prazeres and the Projeto Estrada Cultural<\/a>\u00a0set\u00a0up the Orquestra Mar\u00e9 do Amanh\u00e3<\/a> (Mar\u00e9 of Tomorrow Orchestra) in an effort to train\u00a0professional musicians. The project\u2019s philosophy\u00a0is that anyone, whatever their\u00a0background or skin color,\u00a0can become a lawyer or a doctor–or a classical violinist.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nThe first orchestra rehearses three times a week in a public school in Vila da Mar\u00e9 and performs live on a weekly basis. There are also beginners\u2019 classes and recreational activities to\u00a0introduce\u00a0classical music to the new kids. Luan, a 16 year old student at the Oper\u00e1rio Vicente Mariano school in Mar\u00e9 was first introduced to classical music by the orchestra.<\/p>\n

“I started playing viola two years ago at the beginning of the project,” he said. “Why did I get involved? I signed up for the project because I thought it was sort of new, and I became passionate about the instrument. Of course I want to go professional later.”<\/p>\n

Favela Grota de Surucucu, in Niter\u00f3i<\/a>, has a similar program founded by residents Leonora and Marcio Mendes. The couple are responsible for the\u00a0Orquestras de Cordas e de Flautas da Grota<\/a> (String and Flute Orchestras of Grota).<\/p>\n

“We hear gunshots almost every day here,\u201d says Leonora, when asked about violence<\/a> in her community.<\/p>\n

The Grota program looks to professionalize young musicians. The first orchestra (out of four) can be hired to play in weddings, churches, and other events. The group has a manager and charges R$2,700 (US$1200) per gig. All of the kids in the first orchestra teach music for the organization, either voluntarily or as paid work. The motto of the project is \u201cmultiplying talents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orquestras da Grota has come a long way since its inception in 1995 as a school for remedial tutoring. Boasting 12 groups\u00a0throughout Niteroi, the project has expanded\u00a0\u201cdue to sheer demand,\u201d\u00a0according to\u00a0Leonora. The only requirement to join is attendance in a public school.<\/p>\n

The first and second orchestras demand mandatory participation in the weekly music theory lessons. This emphasis on professionalism is enforced in the hope to break the circle of social repetition and to open new doors for teenagers from low-income backgrounds. The work of the orchestra also gives kids the opportunity to travel to several destinations on tour. They have been to\u00a0S\u00e3o Paulo, Central America and as far as Portugal and England. Leonora feels that the the benefits of such travels are immeasurable.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cDiscovering places where the question of knowing whether the Red Command<\/a> or the Pure Third Command<\/a> controls the favela is irrelevant is incredibly liberating for the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Neuroscience is fast proving what so many musicians have felt<\/a>: playing an instrument is to the brain what sport is to the body. Learning music creates connections<\/a> between different regions of the brain and engages with virtually all functions of the\u00a0central organ. Not only does such an activity strengthen our cognitive capabilities but also allows us to use those acquired capacities in all situations.<\/p>\n

In addition to this, youth involved in such\u00a0ambitious programs discover a bigger world<\/a>, new sensibilities and set no boundaries for themselves. Peter, the lead violinist in the Orquestra Mar\u00e9 do Amanh\u00e3, has got no doubt about what he wants to do in life.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been playing violin for five years now. I want to be a musician, a classical musician,” he said.<\/p>\n

Maestro Prazeres says classical music opens up a whole new world of culture for the kids, who start looking\u00a0for art elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a social aspect to music. The kids start interacting with each other differently, because an orchestra is an interaction,” he explains. “The kids start to visit museums, to attend theaters and go to concerts. You start to be in contact with a new range of information that makes you more whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

The kids play Beethoven and John Williams with talent, showmanship, virtuosity, and discipline. These programs provide\u00a0an escape to the young people in the favelas and can offer an unexpected career as a professional musician.\u00a0Classical music is not dead–in fact here it is breathing new life into communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas Mothers in\u00a0Complexo da Mar\u00e9 worry about their children’s idle time after they are released from school at midday. Sent home before\u00a0lunch, and with a whole afternoon lacking structured\u00a0activities, kids are in […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":17957,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1290,1268,329,1329],"tags":[1361,1430,779,756,258,280,221,1197,551,37,259],"writer":[1380],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17826","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-civilsociety","8":"category-favelaculture","9":"category-solutions","10":"category-by-international-observers","11":"tag-endfavelastigma","12":"tag-classical-music","13":"tag-community-leaders","14":"tag-community-organizing","15":"tag-community-solution","16":"tag-complexo-da-mare","17":"tag-favela-culture","18":"tag-greater-rio","19":"tag-niteroi","20":"tag-north-zone","21":"tag-youth","22":"writer-nathan-bonnisseau"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17826"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=17826"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=17826"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=17826"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=17826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}