Fighting academic failure through music education
With the support of the BNP Paribas staff in Lisbon, the organisation welcomes nearly 950 young people take several hours of after-school music lessons a week, not including the hours necessary to prepare for their concerts. This is a good way to fight absenteeism and academic failure. Their concerts can take place in unlikely places: pavements in the city centre, municipal halls, village squares, etc. Playing music is far from easy for most of them.On 4 March, the young people in the Orquestra Geração (unavailable link) gave a concert of classical music and jazz at Lisbon’s National School of Music, with the programme ranging from Fauré to Brahms, Hancock and Copland. On that occasion, they offered and signed their first CD for the public!
Moreover, for two years some of these young musicians have joined the Gulbenkian Orquestra for an annual concert conducted by great maestros. They include Venezuela’s Gustavo Duhamel, who learned to play the violin in his country’s music education programme, El Sistema. Through music education, Orquestra Geraçao eases the weight of poverty and fights academic failure. The project allows them to increase their knowledge, develop their imaginations and creativity and participate in a collective endeavour.
Watch the video to find out more about their story
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