Admitted for live audition

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Below we present the people summoned to the live audition for the Open call for 3 available places.

The auditions will be held between July 30 and August 1, 2024 at the Headquarters of the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Cra 66B 32D-36 Mall Cafetero.

*ADMITTED FOR IN-PERSON AUDITION

 

ASSISTANT CONCERTINO
1 1032484836
2 1234641597
3 1107082411
4 1128428236

 

VIOLIN II ROW MAIN
1 1128439777
2 1128427812
3 1015397919
4 1144108482
5 1023965194
OBOE ROW ASSISTANT
1 93391340
2 1053806192
3 1088536683
4 1053814784
5 1017173493
6 1024514377

*The order does not represent the result of the audition.

The Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra wins the LEAD® Kennedy Center award

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The LEAD award® Kennedy Center recognizes for the first time a cultural organization outside the United States for its leadership on issues of accessibility and inclusion in the arts.

The Kennedy Center Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) Awards®) recognize outstanding cultural administrators and organizations whose leadership promotes disability accessibility in the arts. These awards seek to raise awareness of the importance of accessibility in artistic venues, cultural institutions and natural history settings.

The Kennedy Center hosts the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) meeting annually.®), focused on accessibility and inclusion in the arts. This event brings together cultural leaders, professionals, and organizations to share strategies and best practices on how to make the arts more accessible to people with disabilities.

  • The meeting, which took place in 2024, awarded the LEAD award® in the Emerging Leader category to Filarmed which recognizes the Orchestra's significant potential in promoting accessibility in the arts. This award for the management model is in addition to the Latin Grammy for best Latin music album for children obtained in 2021 for the work Tu Rockcito Filarmónico and the Classical:NEXT Innovation Award awarded in 2022 for believing in music as an agent of transformation.

     

  • The jury valued the management model of the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, which focuses on strengthening close relationships and bringing symphonic music closer to the community of people with intellectual, hearing and neurodivergent disabilities. This model has been implemented for 8 years in the “I am a Musician” program, which benefits more than 110 people. Additionally, the program strengthens the musical identities of people with disabilities, encouraging the development of musical skills and building a community around their artistic interest.

Transform the disabled population with music

Data from the Ministry of Health indicate that in the jurisdiction of Medellín there are approximately 64,283 people with disabilities, this includes some categories ranging from cognitive or physical, Alzheimer's, auditory, visual, among others. “Through this population, we learned about the scarcity of cultural/artistic services that they felt safe attending, as a consequence of the lack of not only regulations, but also motivation and actions from our cultural world to address exclusion. To this day, we are the only performing arts organization in our city and one of the few in the country that addresses the issue of accessibility, arts and disability. Currently, we do not know of government funds dedicated to working on accessibility in the arts,” explained María Catalina Prieto, executive director of Filarmed.

Accessibility for all  

“Attend the LEAD conference® in Boston, United States, allowed us to understand the many aspects of accessibility that had been invisible to us or that, being visible, we had not found a way to address. It should be noted that our country's standards, particularly around arts spaces and accessibility, are not as comprehensive or enforced as in the United States, and that as a society we are still struggling to fully achieve inclusion. A characteristic of our organization is that we do not have our own setting, and that most city spaces do not have the accessibility characteristics that the different communities of people with disabilities require,” said Juanita Eslava, social programs advisor at Filarmed.

The Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra has taken a significant step by including accessibility as a line in its 2024 strategic plan for the first time. This includes expanding capacities, improving the accessibility of all its materials and concerts, and strengthening the dialogues with communities of people with disabilities to identify and address their needs as a cultural organization. These dialogues mark the beginning of the creation of advisory committees for the Orchestra.

“The creation of networks has also allowed us to begin planning activities that may include other organizations and cultural spaces in the country to mobilize their interest in this topic,” said María Catalina.

The future of Filarmed

Orchestras around the world have asked themselves how to be relevant and strengthen their ties with communities after discovering that the traditional model that is more than 200 years old, offering concerts only in theaters to the same niche audience, is not sustainable. For Filarmed it is very important to have a differentiating factor, being an orchestra in Europe, or in the United States, is not the same as an orchestra in a country like Colombia, in a city like Medellín that is in constant transformation and where the participation of The community is essential to build a better future. “That has been the main motivation, to stay relevant and ask ourselves how we can contribute to weaving a better society from what we know how to do best: symphonic music,” says María Catalina Prieto.

For Prieto it is a privilege to win the LEAD award® Kennedy Center, a recognition of what has been cultivated in years of intentional and conscientious work, of being a close, relevant orchestra, of having a differential factor. Additionally, it is a validation of the orchestra's commitment and dedication to promoting inclusion and accessibility in the arts, especially in its work with people with disabilities.

A leading orchestra in accessibility and inclusion

Filarmed is a non-profit entity, created 41 years ago, it is financed with public and private resources from local, national and international organizations to carry out projects in which music has the greatest impact on society.

It is currently in one of the most interesting moments in its history. In the next six years it will work on four fronts: first, to be a musical reference in Latin America, to be recognized as one of the most important orchestras in the region and even worldwide. Second, to be a bold and innovative organization, which can produce captivating experiences with versatile musicians; that beyond playing an instrument well, they work with others and with other artistic disciplines. Third, to be an orchestra rooted in and committed to all types of populations in diverse territories, putting its capabilities at the service of social transformation, using music to improve the lives of all, and finally being a sustainable orchestra that generates social value.

“We firmly believe in the transformative power of music…we have been working for eight years with young people with cognitive disabilities, displaced communities and ex-combatants and victims of the armed conflict, we have also begun to work with young people and children with hearing and visual disabilities. These communities have in common that through music they can redefine their relationship with the city, with the other and with themselves and others,” explains María Catalina.

I am a Musician: inclusion, a commitment 

It has been eight years since the Orchestra recognized that disability can also contribute to transformation and creativity, and that its encounter with music should have no borders. Since 2017, the I Am a Musician program was created, in which young people and adults with hearing, cognitive and/or neurodivergent disabilities participate in a process of strengthening their musical identity, through musical creation and performance, guided by music therapists.

Reconciliation route

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We invite you to the “Reconciliation Route” with the participation of Filarmed, the Reconciliation Choir and the Philharmonic Vocal Group. Come and enjoy Latin American music in a series of concerts that celebrate peace and hope.

Registration here


There are concerts near your house!
Schedule yourself

Thursday, July 18. 5:00 pm
House of Memory Museum
51st Street No. 36-66, Bicentennial Park


Saturday July 20. 5:00 pm
Caribbean Theater
Cra 50 no. 52-77, Villa Paula, Itagüí


Wednesday, July 24. 7:00 p.m.
Saint Dominic Savio Parish
107b Street No. 33A-9
Saturday July 27
Camacol Square in Sura
Peace Festival:
Bazaar + concert
Bazaar: 10:00 am
Concert: 4:00 p.m.

 

Learn this song and let's sing together at the concert

“There is no way to Peace, Peace is the way”
Letter ymmusic: Freddy Lafont

Don't tell me the sails don't raise

Don't tell me I can't hang out with you

Don't tell me that boots are not worn on Sundays

Don't tell me that life is not saved with friends

 

Don't tell me that there are no people that are free

Don't tell me the rains didn't fall

Don't tell me that the force is always on your side

Don't tell me that peace, that peace is not in your coat.

 

Chorus:

It's easy to say no, what's hard is to say yes

Facing life and damage

Correct justice and its size

Don't tell me that deaths don't reach you

Don't tell me the struggles aren't hard

Don't tell me that the sources of your life don't end

Don't tell me that we are not, nor do we think, up to the task

 

Chorus:

It's easy to say no, what's hard is to say yes

Facing life and damage

Correct justice and its size

The drought is decorating your path

Life is already reaching its destination

A loss will simply explode in your sense

Immense heat hidden from view in your pocket

 

Chorus:

It's easy to say no, what's hard is to say yes

Facing life and damage

Correct justice and its size

Explanatory notice in the specifications for the video of the Assistant Concertino call

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For our call launched on May 6, 2024, we made the following annotation in the video specifications.

EXPLANATORY NOTICE IN THE SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE VIDEO OF THE CALL FOR CONCERTINO ASSISTANT: In this, cuts between Bach, Mozart and each orchestral excerpt are accepted, but edits or cuts within the passage or concert are not allowed.

Benefit Ministry of Culture

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Connect with Filarmed – Populations with special constitutional protection!

This invitation is thanks to the alliance with the Ministry of Cultures, Sounds for the construction of Peace, National Music Plan for Coexistence and National Association of Symphonic Music – Collaboration Agreement 002 of 2024.

Population with special institutional protection: “Minors, pregnant women, older adults, people in a situation of displacement and people with physical and mental disabilities” Ruling T-106 of 2015 of the constitutional court.

Sign up here

Call for Workshops I am a Musician 2024

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I am a musician is the program of the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra in which 35 neurodiverse people work alongside professionals in music therapy throughout the year, it has 2 base groups where musical abilities are developed, they integrate and do a concert with the Orchestra, in which they put their learning into practice. In addition, it has a projection group, which are young people with more advanced musical training, showing those skills throughout the year with the Orchestra, with more concerts.

Again this year we want to invite more people to participate in the program. We will do seven itinerant workshops, one each month, on Saturday afternoons so that, if you like music, you can learn to make it and enjoy it more.

Who is invited?

People 16 years of age and older, who have a diagnosis of:

Autism

Cognitive impairment

Down's Syndrome

Dual diagnosis with sensory disabilities (Dual means it is not just visual or hearing impairment, but they have a dual diagnosis)

If I have a mental disability, can I attend?

The workshops are given in conditions and in large groups that do not allow us to provide the attention required by people diagnosed with mental illness. We hope to be able to carry out activities for them later.

If I am under 16 years old, can I attend?

I am a musician is designed to provide opportunities for development and integration through music to people for whom the offer is limited. If you are under 16, you can inquire about other programs taking place in the city.

What is required to attend?

Register in advance and be accompanied by another adult to the Filarmed rehearsal space, Carrera 66b number 32d 36 former success 33. Coffee grower. They are itinerant workshops, that is, some could be in another space, but this will be informed in a timely manner at the time of calling them or registering.

How much does it cost to participate in the workshops?

Nothing. The workshops are free.

Where can I register?

To register, fill out this form: HERE,  As we have capacity for 40 participants, we will attend in order of registration.

If I don't live in Medellín, can I attend?

Yes. Participants from all places are welcome.

In the workshops we will carry out 
During the year 2023, different musical themes were worked on in each traveling workshop on Saturdays. Seeing such good results in the participants, this year in each itinerant workshop activities will be addressed with all musical parameters, body rhythm will be worked on and with percussion instruments, the melodic part of the voice as a musical instrument, games will be played with musical dynamics, the silences that are so important, and concludes with small group musical ensembles.

Workshop dates:

February 24th,  3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

March 16, 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

April 27,    3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

25 of May, 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

June, 15, 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

July 27th, 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

August 24,  3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

September 28, 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

 

 

 

 

“Connections”, a Season made for you 

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Music is a powerful way to connect with other people. Whether you're listening or creating, you can simply strengthen your ties with friends, family, and even strangers through it. 

  • In the 2024 Season we want to promote connections between people, their way of seeing life and feeling music. That's why we wanted to make a different bet where we not only program for them but with them. 
  • A season where the community will influence the creation and planning of the concerts.  
  • Let's connect with each other! Each concert is designed under the logic of…On Saturdays, February 17 and 24, we will begin our Season with an exciting repertoire to the rhythm of Latin American and universal music. The first two concerts of the Season are presented to discover the musicians' ways of seeing their lives, their passions, their emotional expressions, their connection with the world.  

“In a hyperconnected world, we have never been so disconnected before. We live in a divided world (and city) where algorithms and conversations exacerbate differences. We live in a world of shores where, despite inhabiting the same territory, we do not necessarily meet.” María Catalina Prieto, executive director 

A season to connect and find ourselves 

We think of ten population groups relevant to Medellín today and that make this city unique in 2024. Among the population groups are street artists, athletes, older adults, ex-combatants, peace signers, victims of the armed conflict, disabled population , childhood, youth, musicians and expatriates.  

We will work with each group to design fundamental elements around which each month's programming will revolve and we will have fixed elements (the repertoire of seasonal concerts) and variable/flexible elements according to the particularities, and ways of seeing the life and music of the group. each group. The population will be curators of each seasonal concert 

Honey for peace

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Late spring, the disturbed workers gathered in the royal cell along with their queen to form a platoon for the future of the colony. It was a reality: ants and other bugs were extinguishing the drones!

The first, one of the workers, exclaimed: —Let's abandon this honeycomb, and move to a hidden place where nothing can harm us.

—Wherever we go there will always be bugs with which we will have differences and perhaps even conflicts —answered the queen bee.

The second, a drone bee proposed: —let's produce the most powerful poison in the world! Let's throw it on plants, flowers and stems, let's kill off all the ants there are, they are to blame for our extinction.

"We bees are not violent insects, we bring honey, well-being and sustenance to the entire world," the queen responded again.

Finally, another of the workers spoke, who stood out for her great wisdom: —We know that ants are our enemies, and we inhabit the same space, but we both take care of the ecosystem and are essential to pollinate, without this the crops do not grow and Without crops there is no food, neither for humans nor for animals. Our life is short, and today more than ever we must work with love to sweeten many more lives.

From the great colony, the queen bee summoned the anthill, for the first time in history they reconciled and repaired scars, and understood how important it was to live together peacefully, take more care of the environment, and work with love.

This short story is inspired by the story of the Giraldo Areiza family, made up of Dayron Giraldo, Alba Rosa Areiza and their son Mateo Cuero, who is part of the Reconciliation Choir (an initiative of the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, a commitment to peace in which signatories and victims of the Colombian armed conflict, join their voices to sing in harmony) from the age of twelve; a family permeated by the Colombian armed conflict and in which the parents were members of the unarmed Farc-EP militias for more than fifteen years, currently signatories of peace.

Northeast of Medellín, in the Santo Domingo Savio neighborhood, this family exchanged the bitterness of violence for a sweet venture, a beekeeping and coffee growing field. Currently, Honey and Coffee La Esperanza produces more than forty kilos of honey per year and three pounds of coffee per year, and benefits more than fifty farming families in the municipality of Anorí. “Bees teach us to live in community and work as a team to serve others,” says Dayron, who affirms that in his business there is a spirit of cooperation and there are no differences, “…we can be in the same space with different people who were part of it.” of armed groups and even victims, that is healing.”

In that tireless search to repair their lives and heal, this family found in the Reconciliation Choir a hopeful experience for their son Mateo, who is passionate about cooking, chemistry, cello and choral music. And the choir has become a commitment to give a voice to those people who historically lost the possibility of speaking out due to the armed conflict.

Symphony under the sea

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Kelly has always been fascinated by swimming and music, until he dreams that he dives, with his alto saxophone, into a deep sea to invite many species to play the Symphony Under the Sea, a work dedicated to marine biodiversity, also because The animals make “pretty” sounds and for her that is music. And that is what the piece would be titled if he ever had the opportunity to compose, because his creativity has no limits. She's even thought of a brief description in her program notes, she says, “fish, whales, dolphins and my family in submarines would be invited to this great presentation. Starfish would play the violins, clownfish would play the flutes, seahorses would play the trumpets, and an octopus would do all the percussion, because it has eight tentacles.”

Kelly Montoya Monsalve is 30 years old and is part of Soy Músico, a Filarmed program that creates musical experiences for people with disabilities and/or neurodivergents. At the age of one and a half she was diagnosed with moderate cognitive delay and at sixteen years of age with retinitis pigmentosa, which is why her vision is minimal. “When he was first diagnosed, the doctor assured me that he would not be able to study, and that he would even have difficulty developing his motor skills. In our case, since she was five years old, we insisted on her learning various activities to stimulate her brain, including music," says Dora Luz Monsalve, her mother, who also says that her greatest strength is love and his gift of service, “…because that's what life is, you have to be helping others, that fills me with vitality.”

Kelly was a high school graduate, never missed a school year, practices swimming, loves watching soccer and is a National fan. He currently studies music at the Network of Music Schools in the Aranjuez neighborhood and is even part of a musical group for people with disabilities where he sings and plays violin. And he also plays his favorite songs on the piano, he does it as a hobby.

He likes Beethoven because he is a symbol of freedom, hope and improvement. “The genius of Bonn stimulates my creativity; I love listening to the hymn of joy from his Ninth and with the Fifth Symphony I have a very special memory: I used to listen to it on CD with my brother before we went to sleep,” says the musician.

“Kelly is blind, therefore, he has a good memory. This year she started with the rhythmic thing, because she was very melodic, at first it was difficult for her, but she already has a very good grip on the sticks and plays well. She is attentive, willing and very dedicated, she easily expresses her emotions; She takes the instructions into account, she is very good at her instrument, the violin,” says Verónica Restrepo, music therapist at Soy Músico.

Music in the mind

His limited vision has not prevented him from reading his favorite book The Chronicles of Narnia 5: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and he even imagines playing the violin within the story. It is said that people with degenerative vision diseases are particularly fast at remembering things in the correct order and this is the case with Kelly, when learning sheet music: “her memory is out of this world. He has an amazing ability to memorize music. She is very disciplined. First the teachers send me the scores by email, she reads them from her tablet line by line, she learns them by heart and at the concert she doesn't need to look at them. For me it's like he has a tape recorder in his brain, because he learns music from one day to the next," says the mother.

This is Kelly, tender, smiling, friendly, full of light and who at the age of five discovered a deep love for music. Her disability has become a driving force to bring joy to her family and to everyone who has heard her in concert.

Postscript

“I am very proud of my mother because she does everything with a lot of love; “She is my favorite superhero.”

To the rhythm of Sandra

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Pulse

Máximo has a good heart, he does not judge and when he arrives at his favorite place, the garden, he is kind to everyone. For Máximo—or Max as he is known—it is no secret that he loves to be the center of attention, he does not like to be ignored. Whether in exchange for caresses, pampering or massages, he is always behind Sandra Gómez to receive some recognition. But not everything is perfect for him, if there is something that torments him it is percussion music; Even when her owner is ready to rehearse, she always interrupts, she says, “she takes away my sheet music, knocks down my drumsticks, puts her paws on my legs, immobilizes me!” And although a couple of months ago he completely destroyed some castanets, he is deeply loved, because he has unconditionally accompanied Sandra through the good and not so good times.

Dogs like music, but the type of music makes a difference. They prefer slower rhythms, simple patterns and lower frequencies; On the contrary, fast rhythms and higher frequencies alter your canine nervous system; That's why Sandra is thinking about performing a marimba song dedicated to Max, because this instrument has a lower tonality than the other percussion instruments.

If one day he stopped loving music, walking dogs would be his perfect vocation; For now, percussion is the way he releases extreme emotions. “Personally, I feel identified with the characteristics of percussion. For example, when you interact with others and you feel impetuous because of an argument, you have to be flexible to change your mind and not lose control, because if I let myself be carried away by my impulses, everything could go wrong," and the same thing happens in the music in Carmina Burana there is a blow of glockenspiel* that accompanies the wind instruments, I must think to their rhythm; When I exert force I have to fall softer to join in harmony. That's how it happens in life itself when we interact, it's not bad to put myself in the other person's shoes," says the percussionist.

Intensity in two revolutions

For sixteen years she has been a percussionist with the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, but her life in music began at the age of three when her parents enrolled her in the Diego Echavarría Musical Institute and in the conservatory of the University of Antioquia, where she learned body expression and What she remembers most: “relating everyday objects to memorize the rhythmic figures of music,” she says. First it was the violin, but it was very difficult for him to read sheet music; then the piano, but he was never passionate about it, and he even practiced dancing.

First revolution. “I wanted a much more active, energetic art form!” That's how he discovered drums at the age of nine at school.

With rhythm and melody in his heart, he graduated from high school, but decided to study industrial engineering. “Without realizing it, I discovered that mathematics and music go hand in hand, both are universal and abstract languages that require learning to be able to decipher them. They both seek beauty. For example, percussion requires a metronome to indicate the correct tempo and uses numbers to divide rhythmic measures.”

Second revolution. "I needed to vent! I cut off my engineering studies because my spirit and mind were in percussion, so I ended up studying a degree in music at EAFIT University. I was happy".

Variations
Three words that define you
“Hope, encouragement and perseverance”

Which is your favorite place?
“The garden where I walk Max and my study cubicle because I find myself.”

What percentage of your life have you dedicated to music?
“A 65% of my life I have spent playing and rehearsing.”

What is the concert you remember most?
"The Turangalila Symphony by Oliver Messiaen. For me it is the most musically complex work, a miracle that happened in Medellín!”

What is the best thing about Sandra?
“Sincerity, I am direct, blunt, I get to the point!”

*The glockenspiel (from German Glocken, "bells", and Spiel, "play", "play") is an idiophone percussion instrument, which consists of a set of tuned metal plates. Also known as a bell set, metal harmonica or lyre, if it has its frame this way