Thirteen at-risk children from Latin America and the Caribbean will play melodies they have composed themselves at the D.C. Youth Orchestra’s November 30 “From the Barrio to the Concert Hall” performance at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater in Washington, D.C. After performing their own melodies, the children—from Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Haiti, Jamaica, and Saint Lucia—will hear Mariano Vales lead the youth orchestra perform a fully orchestrated version of their tunes. The children were chosen through a composition competition sponsored by Hey Mozart!, an initiative of the Organization of American States. The concert is a joint international collaboration among the OAS’s OASIS Caribbean Program (Orchestras of the Americas for Social Inclusion), Hey Mozart!, the DC Youth Orchestra, and music-for-social-inclusion organizations from seven countries. A CD of the orchestrated melodies—recorded at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro by the Revelents Wind Quintet and the Gate City Camerata—will be distributed free to concertgoers.
Posted November 23, 2010
