Music fulfills dreams

With different instruments, but united by the same dream, music has touched the lives of Mariana and Miguel Ángel, members of the Urabá Children's and Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. A group that began as a dream and that has come to fruition thanks to the talent of its 62 students. In 2022, the orchestra performed fourteen presentations accompanying events in the region and twenty ensemble meetings.

This mission of bringing music to all the people of the region is what has motivated the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra to deliver a life full of hope to children and young people in Urabá, Antioquia.

Sow music with love

Mariana Ayala, she is 14 years old, she is the principal second violin of the orchestra. Her voice expresses deep love for the violin more than anything else in life, she even longs in the future to be a professional musician and perhaps play as a soloist in orchestras around the world. But before realizing his dream, he knows that he must finish school and graduate. Mariana says that her favorite subjects are artistic and livestock and agricultural, the latter because she has had the opportunity to plant plantains and bananas, and explore the types of livestock, which are necessary tools for life and work in the countryside.

The student alternates her school classes with music rehearsals, because both are important in her life, she says; He practices his instrument for an hour a day, with the same discipline with which he frequently sings in his neighborhood church. “I like the way the violin sounds, it gives me peace of mind. With it I can express feelings like affection, love, even sadness. When I have had the opportunity to be a soloist I get very nervous, but it makes me happy to know that the public can feel and hear life through my instrument.” Although he likes to look through books, he prefers to read his scores and his love for music came when he was 8 years old, when a teacher visited his school and invited several students to take free music classes. “There I learned recorder, xylophone, metallophone and even staff. I also had the opportunity to practice French horn and trumpet, but all my attention and heart was on the violin.”

Mariana, born in Chigorodó, was embraced by music before she was born because Mercedes, her mother, stimulated her with romantic songs and universal classics.

Chigorodó, located in the Urabá subregion, means “Guaduas River” in the Katía language. It is a hot municipality, but with large cool rivers. Next to it rises the Serranía de Abibe, a large water reserve in the Uraba subregion.

An instrument that shines like the sun

“If you ask me what my favorite toy is, I will say the trumpet, because I always have fun with it, discover, play and rehearse.” Miguel Ángel Rengifo

The first trumpet of the Urabá Symphony Orchestra is led by 14-year-old Miguel Ángel Rengifo; His life in music began in 2019 with percussion because at first there were no brass instruments; And he loves that family of instruments for their strength and sonority and even because within the orchestra it shines like the sun, he says, “if my instrument were a character it would be someone strong, elegant, beautiful, but very boisterous.” He also really likes the instrument's pistons because they fit easily over his fingers.

He considers himself a very disciplined young man and knows that he must practice the various trumpet methods for at least forty-five minutes each day. “Music is a life project. Since I was little I identified with her, I remember that at family parties we all danced to the rhythm of salsa and merengue, and we sang rancheras,” says the trumpeter.

Miguel, who was born in Apartadó, wants to be a professional musician, but also a trumpet teacher because he dreams that many young people will make music a life purpose. She is currently in ninth grade and loves Spanish, especially when she practices spelling and calligraphy. She even recently found another passion: reading. And although he doesn't like numbers, he says that his favorite book is Damned Mathematics by Carlo Frabetti. “…I like it because they explain mathematical concepts to me in an easier way, and, on the other hand, I think it's a fun story in which Alice arrives in a world of wonders that shows her the beauty of numbers.”