From their deprived environments to the broad horizons of music
Three months ago, the child, Laila Jarjour, left her border village of Rmeish in southern Lebanon after the intensification of the bombing there, and moved with her family to Beirut. In the city, Laila (8 years old) forgot the sound of shells and the buzz of Israeli reconnaissance planes. Music had its effect on the little girl, who joined the “El Sistema” choir, which emerged from the “Beirut Taranam” association, where she began learning to sing and met new friends.
Laila chooses from among the songs “Naqili Ahla Zahra” by Zaki Nassif as the best one she has memorized, and chooses a companion coming from Tripoli to classify as the closest to her heart. As for Laila’s mother, she tells Asharq Al-Awsat how the weekly exercises reflected in her daughter’s self-confidence and joy.
Laila (left in the photo) sings with her colleagues in the “El Sistema” choir (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A point of light in children’s eyes
“El Sistema” is not an emergency educational idea. Rather, it dates back to 1975, specifically to Venezuela, when the free El Sistema program was created to teach music to children coming from marginalized environments. More than 60 countries around the world have embraced the initiative, raising the slogan “Music for Social Change.”
As for Lebanon, the project was launched two years ago with the support of “Beirut Sings” and the American Embassy. The director responsible for the program, Richard Azoury, likens it to an informal music academy for children, who come from all Lebanese regions to study music. The project represents a spotlight for young talents, at a time when musical education is considered a luxury amid the economic suffering of Lebanese families.
El Sistema children during a training session (Asharq Al-Awsat)
It is true that “El Sistema” in its Lebanese version has not yet worn an official character, but its curators and students are very serious in dealing with this artistic opportunity. “Training is weekly and is divided into group playing and singing,” Azoury explains to Asharq Al-Awsat. 10 specialized teachers are responsible for more than 150 children between the ages of 5 and 15, teaching them to read notes and play the violin, bass and cello, as well as training them in professional group singing.
An arduous journey in sacrifice for music
Some of the group’s children go through the trouble of the weekly trip from cities and villages far from the capital. Despite the long distances, they arrive to class with smiles on their faces, excited to spend 4 hours amid the eastern and western tones and rhythms.
“We have students who come from Anjar and Ras Baalbek in the Bekaa, and others from Sidon, Tripoli, Jbeil and other distant regions,” Azoury explains. “They do not fail at all, but rather they are the ones who insist on their families transporting them,” knowing that the association is responsible for providing transportation allowance for the families, in light of the rise in fuel prices. When they return to their towns and homes, they carry their instruments with them and practice during the week, replacing playing and singing with toys and the phone screen.
The Beirut Tarantam Association deals with this project as a “social issue,” as its goal is not only to teach music, but also to create close ties between the people of the Lebanese regions.
The goal was actually achieved. Just as Laila, who came from the far south, found friendship in a classmate of hers who came from the north, so many children built friendships among themselves, from different cities and backgrounds. In this context, Azoury points out that the spirit of cooperation prevails and there is no competition for preference. Rather, they teach each other, and if one of them is ahead of the other in understanding the lesson, he hastens to help his comrades.
Beyond music lessons, friendships developed between children from different Lebanese regions (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Wholesale positive psychological effects
The “El Sistema” program also had a positive impact on the morale of the children, as it provided an outlet for them on a psychological level. “It is enough to hear their laughter when they arrive at the lesson, to be sure of the great positive psychological impact on them,” Azoury says. They are not the only beneficiaries in this regard, as the project director himself admits that these two years changed a lot in his life: “This experience brought me back to my fatherhood. After my children grew up, I found in these children my new children.”
El Sistema trainees have made great strides in playing the violin (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Since joining the programme, the horizons of the children, most of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds, have broadened. Music took them to more beautiful places, and those responsible for the project sought to surround them with new forms of culture.
One of their most important meetings with the general public last summer took place in cooperation with the American band “Black Alley,” which specializes in rap and rock music. They sang and played together, and became familiar with stage fright.
The children also learned about the importance of art, which is used to serve a humanitarian cause, when they stood near the port of Beirut in the summer of 2023. With their voices and strings, they paid tribute to the souls of those who lost their lives in the bombing that targeted the Lebanese capital two years ago.
El Sistema trainees experienced the concept of social responsibility, through educational sessions on the basics of coexistence, openness to others, and environmental protection. They have become aware of the importance of recycling and refraining from throwing waste on the street.
“On wheels”
Tourism culture has a share within the “El Sistema” program, as the group began a series of tours of the Lebanese regions two months ago. “Whoever is not able to visit us, we will go to visit him,” Azoury says, speaking about the “On Wheels” initiative. The idea is for the children, their families, and teachers to board buses periodically and go to a Lebanese town.
Children of “El Sistema” during their visit to the northern town of Anfa (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The children will soon visit Tripoli, Douma, and Bcharre in the north, and they had previously landed in Deir el-Qamar in Mount Lebanon and Anfa in the north.
The visits were not limited to tourism and getting to know their relatives in the regions, as the children presented musical performances at every stop where they were guests, and they made room for children from those areas far from the capital to participate in singing.
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