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After observing several sectional rehearsals, we all got our hands dirty in the beginning orchestra rehearsal, comprised of children who have only been playing their instruments since September. We were all sitting in the sections with our specific instruments, helping out where we could. After a while, the conductor pointed... Sistema Fellows Program

Days like today really make me question because I feel like I have the most simplistic answer to the music phenomenon that occurs here and it feels too simple: repetition, repetition, repetition, and as soon as something is wrong, the student is stopped instantly and they start the passage over... Sistema Fellows Program

Recent tour rehearsal…

At the nucleo Sarría, during a rehearsal of students who had been playing for five months, I sat in the very back of the cello section, watching and helping the student sitting in the last chair as needed. Every time I made a correction, she nodded enthusiastically and adjusted. Her... Sistema Fellows Program

The March edition, including an article by Albert Oppenheimer, Sistema Fellow '12, of Tricia Tunstall and Eric Booth's monthly publication chronicling the emerging field of El Sistema-inspired activity in the US and beyond is found here. Sistema Fellows Program

José Luis Hernández-Estrada, Sistema Fellow '12, has published a book entitled Aesthetics of Generosity: El Sistema, Music Education, and Social Change. It explores the philosophy, history, and practice he learned about during his trip with the Sistema Fellows to Venezuela last winter. To learn more, including how to purchase, please... Sistema Fellows Program

Something that has always struck me about listening to the Simon Bolivar Orchestra (the top orchestra in Venezuela), whether live or in recordings, is their unique group sound: textured, robust, and fearless. While observing children learning instruments of all ages and levels in various nucleos throughout Caracas, it has been... Sistema Fellows Program

I see PURPOSE in every strand and cell of El Sistema. Nothing is done for no reason. And nothing is done selfishly. This is a lesson I never want to forget: living selflessly. I have seen this many times in the past week. I think it is so easy to... Sistema Fellows Program

My favorite nucleo thus far was La Serria. The students played at a high level, it was partially outside, the choir was singing three-part harmony a capella after only one month, and the kids were so precious asking us when we were going to return. They obviously were not used... Sistema Fellows Program

I’ve found that often times our life is spent watching out for what’s to come and we often lose the time to enjoy where we are. Imagine if every day we took that time to perform. Not our own concerto or aria but a performance for ourselves, recognition of our... Sistema Fellows Program

In my two years here at NEC, I’ve had my fair share of life changing experiences. This institution is filled with students who all intend to be the apex of their field, and do everything in their power to achieve as much as they physically can. It’s an incredibly inspiring environment, filled with people who let the excellence of their peers push them up instead of pulling them down. And from what I have seen, no where is this more obvious than the Chamber Singers.

As a singer, there is an associated stigma that follows you where you go. We allegedly have a penchant for the overly dramatic, a perceived lack of musicianship, or a short attention span. People think falsely that we’re ditzy and dumb, all glitter and no substance, and that we glide through life with false emotions and false faces to keep ourselves right with the right people and wrong with the wrong ones. It’s a shadow that follows the word “singer,” a smudge that brings us all down a bit. But if you were to sit into a rehearsal with the chamber singers, you’d see in a heartbeat that smudges and stigmas have no place with us.

Every singer we have is incredibly intelligent, beautifully genuine, and sublimely in tune (musically, mentally and emotionally) with everyone else. On our worse days, we’re better than any other musical group I’ve ever been in, and on our best, there’s magic, which is something that defies stigmatism. That magic is especially prominent with the repertoire we’re dealing with now. It’s a range between Brahms and Ligeti, if that helps your expectations at all, and it’s some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard.

Of course, with Erica Washburn at the helm, how couldn’t it be? I have worked with Erica for six years now, and she is one of the most inspiring and talented musicians I’ve ever worked with. She took a group of singers and made a choir, filled with enthusiasm and a desire to share our voices. And I think that’s pretty extraordinary. And cool.

We’ve been working for months now, tackling this music and shaping it. I’ve gotten to know my choirmates even better, and some of them have become like family to me. Its gotten to the point where we just walk around Boston singing Ligeti and Frobisher Bay in harmony. We get some weird looks, but thats the price for music that bonds you so tightly to people that you want to carry it out of the rehearsal with you and onto the streets.

We’re going on tour soon. Beautiful music, sung by fantastic musicians, as interpreted and led by a conductor extraordinare. It’s gonna be a good time. You should come.

singitlikeitis:

Conduct. Charles Peltz.

singitlikeitis:

In between performances! @wgbh

Concert programmers, teaching artists , armies of program annotators, and museums with their rental headsets believe that audiences today lack experience and confidence in approaching an art work. Tony Woodcock http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-woodcock/

In the course of these three days, yesterday was perhaps the most concrete; after visiting philosophy, teaching practices, and learning, we saw the actual instruments being made; the physicality of it all. In the morning at the Centro Académica de Luthería en Caricuao, we had the pleasure of meeting Roberto... Sistema Fellows Program

Not looking too bad after traveling through the night from Boston to Caracas via Houston Enjoying the view from the top floor of the Center for Social Action through Music (with Rodrigo Guerrero) Photos courtesy of Carlos Roldan Sistema Fellows Program

Before leaving for Venezuela, we were reminded that this experience is one of the few moments in our lives where we preemptively know that this journey will change us. Often times, we realize significant moments in retrospect and don’t have the opportunity to prepare. Yet even after months of preparation... Sistema Fellows Program

Photo by Rachel Hockenberry Sistema Fellows Program

Wednesday morning was spent at Caracas' Centro Academico de Luthería, which is the main training school for El Sistema luthiers. Housed in a vocational school, the workshop is run by El Sistema luthiers who teach students between the ages of 14-26 how to build and repair orchestral and traditional Venezuelan... Sistema Fellows Program

NEC’s School of Continuing Education Certificate graduate “Pui” wins 2012 Top Award for The Voice Thailand. Congrats Pui!