Venezuelan Tour: A Look Back

From November 19-26, the Arundo Winds were in Caracas, Venezuela for our first international tour. We spent the week teaching master classes and chamber music lessons, trying to learn Spanish, dodging pro- and anti-Chavez demonstrations, and learning as much as possible about the Venezuelan culture. Our teaching took place at the facilities of a youth orchestra program in Guerenas, about 30 minutes from Caracas in good traffic (an hour or more in normal traffic). We were completely blown away by the talent, work ethic, and passion of our students, and after the first day of work, we were scrambling to get to a computer so that we could contact our professors about the possibility of bringing some of the students to study at CU on scholarships.

We were also completely blown away by the effectiveness of the program, which is part of FESNOJIV, a national consortium of youth orchestras. The program provides instrument rentals and instruction at no cost to the students, so that any child can participate. Andres, the conductor of the older youth orchestra, explained that since about 95% of the kids are from very poor areas (the barrios), the program plays a huge role in keeping kids off the streets and out of trouble, and in giving their lives focus and meaning. Knowing this made the level of playing, which was fantastic by any standards, seem particularly beautiful and moving. One of the highlights of the week was the evening we stayed late to listen to the full orchestra rehearsal. They played Tchaikovsky's fourth symphony and a Danzon by Arturo Marquez. We were sitting in the wind section so that we could give advice to our students, but most of us were speechless from the first downbeat. All of us have heard and/or played Tchaik 4 many times, but never like this. It captured Tchaikovsky's passion and fury perfectly, and we could not believe that this beautiful music was being performed by a bunch of kids. Kids with less than ideal instruments. Kids who had to learn from each other because of the shortage of teachers. Kids who live in abject poverty. It was an indescribable experience.

The other highlight of the week was our last day at the school, when we gave a final concert to try to demonstrate what we had been teaching and to leave the students with a new appreciation for chamber music. The applause after each piece was deafening, and the energy level in the room helped us to play with much more intensity and vigor than usual. After the performance, we spent the better part of an hour signing autographs, posing for pictures, and saying our tearful farewells.

The five of us have agreed that this tour was one of the most important- if not THE most important- musical experiences of our lives. We are so grateful to everyone who made this tour possible: Gina (who did all of the work to arrange the trip), our donors here in the US, and the administrators of the Guerenas program. We tried to leave behind some useful information for the Venezuelan students, and we brought back with us a new passion in our approach to music. We hope our audiences will hear the "Venezuelan factor" in our performances from now on.