Notas de Alegría

Music as a social project in Las Terrenas

“Children who are materially poor gain spiritual wealth through music. And once music has brought them such riches, their brains, souls and spirits can carry them forward and upward".

Notas de Alegría project director Caroline Lachance makes her own these words of hope from the late Venezuelan conductor José Antonio Abreu. “I want to make sure that music and culture develop in Las Terrenas”, she says, but with a strong social overtone. "The aim is to give children from disadvantaged or socially excluded families the chance to learn classical music, in order to develop values such as collective learning and teamwork".

Notas de Alegría is therefore not just for children. Parents should also be involved. "It has to become a movement that creates something positive in the community."

A proven humanist pedagogy

During her career as a music teacher in Montreal, Caroline heard about the El Sistema program, created in 1975 by Maestro José Antonio Abreu who was also at the origin of the Orquesta Juvenil e infantil. The program offers disadvantaged and socially excluded children the opportunity to have access to free music lessons. “I was impressed by the level reached by the musicians through their musical training. I was also very moved by the fact that music is so valued when in Western countries, music programs are disappearing from schools”, says Caroline Lachance.

Some 700 000 young musicians in Venezuela alone have benefited from the program and the country now has more than 250 philharmonic orchestras. Several of the musicians from El Sistema have achieved stardom. For example, a former student of José Antonio Abreu, Rafael Payare, became in 2021 the musical director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Sixty other countries around the world have been inspired by this program.

In the Dominican Republic, the Fiesta Clasica Foundation has represented the El Sistema program since 2015. Based in Santo Domingo, Fiesta Clasica has 200 students and more than 15 teachers. It has a social vocation before being musical. In this case, it allows children to practice in their free time a group experience through learning music.

Fiesta Clasica now supports Notas de Alegria, which currently has 25 children. The challenges are numerous for Notas de Alegría’s team of 5 members: finding premises, teachers, funds, etc. “For the success of this project we will need the whole community; parents of students, local elected officials, friends and donors”.

That music becomes a vehicle for social change is an integral part of Notas de Alegría's strategy. The foundation not only wants to develop culture, but also a sense of belonging to the community, so that it notably becomes aware that children can become musicians.

The orchestra as a place of sharing

These children’s way of learning, as defined by El Sistema, is mainly based on an overall experience. Students learn and practice in groups, but also in sections. Individual lessons are provided when the need arises.

The orchestra thus becomes a beneficial place of shared interest. “By spending several hours a week in an orchestra or a choir,” says Caroline Lachance, “young people are removed from the harsh realities of the street (drug use, prostitution, violence). The program allows them to devote their time to an activity that gives meaning to their lives”.

Performances in front of an audience are encouraged, so children have a chance to express themselves, to take the stage and give back to the community. The idea here, in the eyes of the foundation, is that children acquire values and that young musicians develop self-esteem, a sense of security, socialization, discipline and study habits.

Notas de Alegría focuses a lot on the training aspect. It wants young people to learn to be persistent, to work steadily to achieve goals and to share with their peers, in an atmosphere of tolerance and solidarity. So that in the end, this learning is reflected in the community as to create better social cohesion.

Funding

How will Notas de Alegria finance itself? “The foundation needs to prove its worth! ", says Caroline Lachance. "The team is made up of influential people who have a lot of contacts in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere, to help the foundation raise funds."

Moreover, multiple concerts will be organized over the next year to finance the program, says the head of Notas de Alegría. She also relies on local participation to help the foundation.

"Making the world a better place is everyone's responsibility" José Antonio Abreu was a visionary, let's follow in his footsteps!

Welcome everyone to Notas de Alegria!