Fortaleciendo comunidades a través de la educación musical

“Symphonic music is a means of expression without using words, it is a way of getting to know other cultures, other environments. “Music exposes all the emotions within us, it is the universal language, it is the liberation of the soul.”
Mariana, student of the Complementary School Day program

The story tells that Hansel and Gretel are abandoned by their stepmother in the forest; Hungry people find a delicious house made of sugar and cake. Temptation leads them to fall into the trap of a witch turned old woman who apparently is very noble. From that moment on, the brothers unite to try to save their lives, and they succeed.

The story of the Brothers Grimm that we have heard is a clear example of brotherhood, collaboration, teamwork, ingenuity and creativity, behaviors that help minimize the difficulties and challenges that arise every day. This is how the opera by the German composer Engelbert Humperdinck, inspired by the story of the Brothers Grimm, has served as an input to strengthen, from virtuality, the comprehensive training of 122 students through the Complementary School Day – JEC program of the Filarmed – Comfama alliance. The program emphasizes the development of values, life skills and teamwork through musical practice; The sessions are held twice a week and benefit girls, boys and young people between seven and seventeen years of age. The program is developed throughout the entire academic year and was created to level out inequalities between public and private education, between urban and rural contexts.

“2020 was a path of many learnings, especially transcending from in-person to virtuality. Thus, interaction with students takes on a new meaning, learning more about their inspirations and motivations. “With the students we work two hours of synchronous activity, connected from Filarmed platforms, and three hours of asynchronous activity, consisting of practice and rehearsal from home”explains Claudia García Giraldo, educational coordinator of Filarmed.

Mariana is a JEC student, she is sixteen years old and is currently studying her last high school degree at the La Paz Educational Institution in the municipality of La Ceja. Parallel to his education, he dedicates three hours a week to rehearsing his instrument. “First I do my schoolwork, then I study my sheet music book, I research the composer and I internalize. "That's how I get into acting more easily," explains Mariana, who has been passionate about the piano since she was four years old when, while accompanying her mother to a sewing course, she heard a piano and a choir in another room. At that time, for her, "the “Music and I connect”.

With its philosophy based on ensemble learning, the program offers an opportunity to join an extracurricular activity that reinforces the sense of community and guarantees mechanisms for free expression, reducing the probability of connection to illegal or potentially harmful activities.

During confinement, the program has been forced to implement totally virtual education. “We have encountered some challenges, many students do not have a good signal or data connection to connect in classes. For this reason, we have decided to implement a model that involves different technological tools such as email, chat or WhatsApp to share pre-recorded videos and in this way not lose the bond with the students."explains Claudia.

Music plays a fundamental role in these times of pandemic, connecting creativity, transformation and innovation, “For students who do not have instruments at home, we do all the assembly and execution work through the voice, singing, and body percussion, creating sounds and rhythms using only parts of the body. In the case of Manuela and other students who own instruments, we provide them with advice and knowledge to improve their musical practices.”, highlights Claudia.

Just as Mariana explores the possibilities of her instrument from eastern Antioquia, eleven-year-old Felipe enjoys musical practice from western Antioquia. He is in his sixth year of high school at the Escuela Normal Superior “Genoveva Díaz” from the municipality of San Jerónimo and dreams of one day becoming a musician and architect. “I find music very beautiful, it gives me joy, and a lot of emotion because there are songs that are made with all the heart. I like the violin, but I play the acoustic guitar; I practice every day in the afternoons in the company of my parents.”explains Felipe.

The program has the participation of teachers Jonathan Arias (guitar) and Beatriz Loaiza (bassoon). “Music moves emotions, these times of pandemic have generated vulnerable and fragile states of mind, that is where music plays a very important role, because it affects those emotions in a hopeful and positive way. At JEC we seek comprehensive training, we promote, in addition to artistic skills, also life skills such as knowledge, interpersonal communication, critical and creative thinking, problem solving and conflicts, among other topics that are necessary in the training of students"explains Jonathan, who has been part of the program since March 2019.

Another challenge in Filarmed training is to have more coverage to reach new people, and learn about other educational models, “The students have told us that music classes with Filarmed are the only spaces in which they can interact with other children, since confinement has made it impossible to attend their usual classrooms”says Jonathan.

The Complementary School Day opens a window to creative thinking, active listening and allows us to understand other types of artistic languages that give new meaning to human interaction.

Mariana and Felipe, like other students, share a common dream: become musicians something that for them contributes to their personal and professional growth.