Musical training for youths

(Montevideo, November 4^th, 2013). With the support of CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, theOrquesta Juvenil del Sodre offered a stunning concert in theTeatro Solis, which was carried out as a closing activity for an intensive musical training seminar organized by the financial institution.

Under the direction of renowned Venezuelan maestro Joshua Dos Santos, the performance, called Noche Fantástica  (Fantastic Night), presented a repertoire made up of the famous Bacchanale Dance from Saint-Saëns' opera "Samson and Delilah" and Rimski-Kórsakov's famous "Scheherezade". The event also included the launching of two commemorative stamps by the Uruguayan Postal Service in homage to the distinguished work of theOrquesta Juvenil del Sodreinside and outside the country.

During the days prior to the concert, the members of the orchestra had the opportunity to participate in training sessions led by Venezuelan and Spanish maestros, coordinated by Dos Santos. The maestro, together with the other instructors, also conducted workshops with theOrquestra Jovem do Rio Grande do Suland youth groups from Lavalleja and Florida, belonging to the Foundation for the Children and Youth Orchestra System of Uruguay.

Ariel Brito, President of the Foundation for the Children and Youth Orchestra System of Uruguay, which currently brings together close to 1,200 youths from all over the country, stated that  "Our objective is to take musical education all over the country, not only as a means to provide technical and artistic training to young people, but also as a tool for social rescue. Therefore, it is very important for us to count on the participation of international professionals that allow us to offer a very high level training to our youths".

The training, as well as the recital, was carried out in the framework of CAF's Music to Grow program which, since 2011 has consolidated a strategic alliance between the financial institution and the Foundation to promote musical studies at the level of socially vulnerable youths, to be able to contribute to their intellectual, physical, and spiritual development.

Gladis Genua, CAF's director representative in Uruguay, stated that "In these past years, we have corroborated the great capacity of music as a social integration tool, and its power to promote human development and transmit values such as perseverance and team work". She added that "For this reason, we are deeply satisfied to be able to continue to contribute with the Foundation to consolidate its objectives, providing Uruguayan youths with the opportunity to see a different reality and envision a future full of hope".

The Music to Grow program, implemented by CAF in the year 2000, includes the organization of orchestral and choral training workshops, and Luthier training aimed at getting Latin American youths closer to a first line musical learning. In its first eleven years, the initiative achieved the participation of 47,000 children and adolescents in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, and carried out 162 workshops in the region.