Music is a universal language, its own form of international understanding. The fact that this is not just a cliché was recently proved again in Cloppenburg. Because in a project linked to the Venezuelan Brass Ensemble’s “We Got Rhythm” concert, brasses have been worked together successfully beyond language barriers, but also beyond age limits. Because there was not only a performance in the town hall at the end of his tour, but also a workshop for the students of the district’s music school.
“The Venezuelan Brass Ensemble is one of Venezuela’s flagships,” explains Ulrich Schmidt, head of the music school. The country has a lot of problems. It has the highest murder rate in South America, massive inflation has been a problem for many years, and crime is high. Furthermore, natural disasters regularly cause devastation. Yet there are obviously rays of hope, for example musically. The ensemble was born from a youth orchestra founded in 1975, with which the economist, politician, educator and composer José Antonio Abreu pursued the vision of offering the children of the slums of Venezuela a chance for life and education.
About 1 million children in the South American country benefit from a national network of music schools, where great importance is attached to playing together in orchestras and ensembles. And from the very beginning. All the musicians of the Venezuelan Brass Ensemble grew up with this project and are now active and active all over the world as professional and high-level musicians. In addition, they now teach young musicians in their home country, but also in Cloppenburg. At least one bit’.
It was about showing what is possible
Because there wasn’t much time for professional musicians and local music students to practice together. After all, the ensemble was in transit. But Ulrich Schmidt was not at all concerned with actually improving the technology. “The young people were able to see what is possible. This is the important thing,” explains the director of the music school. Small groups worked on pieces that came from the South American concert program. Communication between the musicians was no problem, says Schmidt: “When in doubt, it worked with hands and feet.”
Eventually, Venezuelan professionals and young people from Cloppenburg got up and sat together on the town hall stage. The main program was performed by the 30 brass ensemble alone. There was a mixture of known and lesser known pieces. From “West Side Story Symphonic Dances” to songs written specifically for Venezuelans. All under the direction of the German professor and founder of the ensemble, Thomas Clamor. And for several encores, the young musicians of the region took the stage to perform some already rehearsed pieces together with the professionals. The great applause of the audience was then the right recognition for a fantastic concert, but also a precious project.
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