On November 22nd 2015, Terresa Carreno Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, one of the flagship orchestras from the homeland of El Sistema,came to Soma, Fukushima. 150 young people aged between 16 and 25 played a side by side with Soma Children’s Orchestra. This was a kind of the dream-come-true moment for many of our young musicians.
Misaki (Grade 8) expressed her excitement by saying;
“…I had a great experience to interact with our El Sistema friends from Venezuela. I am the leader of second violin and was very nervous. However, Fabiola, who sat next to me was very friendly and kind so that I was able to relax and enjoyed talking with her. When we played Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony together, she played really well. I got absorbed in the music playing with her. It was extremely fun. As always, I was amazed by the power of music to help us connect with other people.
It is because of your support that I can have such a wonderful experience. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart.
I will continue to play the violin as a member of this Soma Children’s Orchestra. I hope to encounter a lot of new people and connect with them by music.”
3 years ago when we established Friends of El Sistema Japan, children in Soma were still living in challenging environment and struggling with traumatic stress caused by earth quake, Tsunami, and subsequent nuclear accident. Many of them lost their family members and friends. They had to be relocated to shelters, and restricted to play outside due to radiation.
We believed in power of music and potential children have. We vision children will grow zest for living through El Sistema inspired music program. We dreamed that someday, children will be able to talk about their own dreams again. Slowly but surely we see positive changes in children as well as community they live in.
As always, our sincere appreciation for your donation and continuous support. Your donation is mainly utilized to provide and maintain children’s instruments, as well as for their daily lessons. If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would be happy to hear what you think!
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