For the next two weeks, Salzburg will be painted with Venezuelan colors. 1,400 Venezuelan musicians, forming part of eight different ensembles will be in residence during the Salzburg Summer Festival. Among others, the Teresa Carreño Orchestra, the Caracas Youth Orchestra and the Simón Bolívar Orchestra will be performing during the next two weeks, so the audience will be able to have a clear idea about the Venezuelan musical education program called El Sistema.
During the last decade, the Simón Bolívar Orchestra of Venezuela has become very recognized. This ensemble has been touring around the world visiting several countries every year. Furthermore, they have attended the main classical musical festivals in Europe, giving performances also in Asia, Australia and the Americas during the last ten years. Their Principal Conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, was also appointed as the Music Director and Principal Conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 2009, being only 28 years old. He was also the Principal Conductor for the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 2007 to 2012 and has been signed by the Deutsche Grammophon, one of the most recognized classical music labels in the world.
This orchestra, particularly in Europe, has developed quite a number of fans and followers who quickly buy all the tickets for every performance they schedule. In Germany and England, for example, tickets for the SBO performances are usually sold several months in advance, and they never last more than half a day in the box office. Considering that similar situations have been going on in France, Austria and Spain, The Bolivars are becoming one of the main attractions for the classical musical festivals around Europe. In fact, at this moment, it must be almost impossible to find a ticket for any of the twelve performances that Venezuelan orchestras will be offering in the Salzburg festival.
This European passion began in London after their 2007 Proms Festival performance in the Royal Albert Hall. Since then, that city has had a special interest in the Venezuelans. In April 2009, they returned to have a full-week residence at the Southbank Centre, offering seminars, press conferences, clinics and, of course, concerts. That residence week attracted more than 50,000 visitors to the Southbank Centre. As a matter of fact, at the end of the residence, Mr. Marshal Marcus, Head of Music of that venue at that time, affirmed that that week had been one of the most crowded ever at the Southbank Centre.
Moreover, on those days, I could observe how London people really got excited with the presence of Venezuelan musicians. Some people asked for pictures, autographs, or just to shake hands; others just acted like rock band groupies, going to every single concert and rehearsal. And the applause—oh, my God, the applause! There were more than fifteen minutes of standing ovation after every performance. But this was not normal fancy classical-music-concert applause. They were really big ovations with whistling, foot taping, screaming… I am sure that if someone had the opportunity of just listening to those ovations, he would have thought he was at a rock band concert. And this has happened also in New York, Japan, Sidney, Barcelona…
Every city where Venezuelan musicians arrive, like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, they infect everyone who has the opportunity to listen to them with a sense of optimism and joy. Now, why? Why do people behave this way? Even people not familiar with classical music. Which are the reasons for this musical and social success?
First, analyzing the context, by the end of the twentieth century, classical music was on a downstream. The concert halls were not always full, the records were published for a specialized audience and young people were not very fond of this kind of music. Furthermore, the generation that grew up listening to the vinyls of Leonard Bernstein and Herbert Von Karajan was too old or even had began to pass, so classical music begun to suffer a «simplifying» process. At this time, we began to listen to classical pieces performed a more popular way or with a more digestible arrangement.
In this context, the need of young blood on the classical music scene was an evident fact. Although many countries in the world had musical education programs for children, and new generations of musicians were being formed every year, classical music was waning; particularly, there was a need for new stars, both in the conducting and in the orchestral performing areas. This sense of emptiness was going to be filled in the second half of the first decade of the twenty-first century. And this filling did not take place with performers from any of the countries with long centuries of classical music tradition but with performers from Venezuela, a country with a musical education program only 30 years old.
Among the students of this program was Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez, who was born in Barquisimeto in 1981. He began his musical education very early and when he was four he formally began to study music in the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela, a nationwide musical education program better known worldwide as El Sistema. His conducting lessons began in 1996 in Caracas and by 1999 he was already the Simón Bolívar Orchestra main conductor.
Furthermore, in 2004 Dudamel gained international attention when, just being 23 years old, he won the first edition of the Bamberger Symphoniker Gustav Mahler Competition. Winning this award put him under the international scope, receiving calls from first class world orchestras to perform as a guest conductor and from that moment on, he has not stopped conducting worldwide in many international festivals.
His passionate way of conducting and his metaphoric way of asking the musicians how he wants the pieces to be played has won him the respect of performers and listeners around the world. For example, at rehearsals, Dudamel always portrays in a very vivid way a scene to make a clear description to musicians about how he wants a particular passage to be played. Indeed, it is not strange at all to hear him saying to his musicians at a rehearsal phrases like «Imagine you are kissing someone, so play it soft and delicate,» or «I want the percussion very loud here, so imagine you are killing someone with the mallet.» Afterwards, in concert, with his gestures he recalls these images to the musicians, on a very theatrical performance.
Also, Simón Bolívar Orchestra musicians are truly well trained in the classics. Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, among many others, are part of their standard repertoire. Moreover, they play their pieces proficiently, as they were meant to be played. However, the Venezuelans like to play fast, so, sometimes, their pace is a little bit faster than the rhythm the composer envisioned for the piece. Moreover, sometimes, during the encore, at the end of the concerts, these musicians find the moment to be more authentic and relaxed, playing as they wish, and that is fast. This is the most enjoyable moment at every concert. They play the classics as academically expected but also when it is permitted, they swing in a Latin groove.
As another reason for The Bolivars’ recognition, social networks have played an important role in their acknowledgement. In fact, YouTube has been a very important media to spread the way Venezuelans perform. Specifically, their performance at the 2007 London Proms has been going around through social networks in quite a viral way now for five years. Furthermore, considering that many people use social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, the sharing of these videos has sustained as time goes by.
Also valuable to note, the Simón Bolívar Orchestra of Venezuela is constituted from the finest musicians formed by El Sistema. Furthermore, these musicians are chosen among the best young musicians of the country. Considering that the national program counts around 350,000 formal students, the orchestra is just the pinnacle of a very big educational program. Their ages ranges between the teens and the thirties and many of them have been playing together since they were kids. So they have grown up knowing each other.
This knowledge-of-the-other creates a huge team sense among the orchestra members. They have been playing for fun since they were kids and that sense of fun remains today. In fact, for them, most of their concerts are like parties and the audience becomes the guest of honor.
Most importantly, they have been formed to be orchestral musicians and not to be soloists. So the sense of big commitment of each of these musicians is enormous. Even the string players appear to be a living animal that moves in the same way and the expression «unison» acquires a whole new sense when anyone has the opportunity to see them performing. It is definitely something to be seen and not just to be listened to.
Indeed, this sense of togetherness is very important because it enriches the quality of their performances. All the musicians are permanently supporting each other and none of them want to excel over the others; on the contrary, they are formed to excel as a team. They want to be good performers, and they are. However, the goodness is not developed in an individual sense but as real palpable teamwork.
The whole pedagogical philosophy of El Sistema is based on the child’s education as a citizen with human values and an integral formation. Most of their students do not take the professional musician career when they grow up. However, all of them obtain important lessons as they pass through El Sistema. The teamwork and the mutual confidence is a way to let them know about responsibility, self and mutual recognition, tolerance, equality and, by the means of these values, freedom and peace. Since some of these musicians come from slum areas and are growing up in a context of poverty and hostility, music becomes a way of staying away from drugs, gangs and violence. Furthermore, for all children studying in El Sistema, this musical program is not only forming them as musicians but also as citizens, being able to have an impact on their own communities. In the words of Maestro José Antonio Abreu, El Sistema’s founder:
«An orchestral community reaches a multiple, dynamic and delicate but complex balance of values, which makes possible the social, appealing and conceptual communication of the sound message. Hence, the children’s orchestras constitute the ideal vehicle for accurate and opportune initiation of youth and children in a social life that is Culture of Peace in solidarity and coexistence.» (Abreu, 2000).
Today, the «simplifying» of classical music still goes on. However, this orchestra and the whole Venezuelan project has infused new energies to this kind of music in the whole globe. As a matter of fact, many programs based on El Sistema are being applied around the world. From South Korea to the USA, from Canada to La Paz, different cities have undertaken similar projects counting on Venezuelan advice. Like a snowball, this initiative is growing more and more, giving classical music a whole new perspective that it hasn’t had for fifteen or twenty years. Meanwhile, for the next two weeks, Salzburg has the opportunity to receive 1,400 Venezuelan musicians, members of eight different ensembles, playing music and evangelizing about El Sistema. So, let the music continue.
3 comentarios en “The Pied Pipers of Venezuela”
It´s been a delight to go through this magical orchestra.
What an interesting text! You have given not only information but also feelings. I’m almost listening SBO right now! Congratulations!
Osvaldo, this is an intriguing and captivating post about the Simon Bolivar Orchestra. I can almost hear the music as I read your words. You have a gift for conveying the excitement of a musical performance in language. I am looking hugely forward to hearing a recording of this orchestra — and I hope one day to hear them in live performance! – Karen