Culture Ministry Offering Symphony Orchestra Workshops to Children and Young People in San Juan de la Maguana

Culture Ministry Offering Symphony Orchestra  Workshops to Children and Young People in San Juan de la Maguana
Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, 04/18/2011

The Ministry Culture (MINC) is taking classical music to the children and young people of San Juan de la Maguana through the ¨Symphony for Everyone¨ program. The children are being trained in percussion, strings, woodwind and brass.

The program seeks to impart an appreciation for the importance of music in its different languages, forms and frontiers through meetings of students from all walks of life who interact in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual support

The program seeks to impart an appreciation for the importance of music in its different languages, forms and frontiers through meetings of students from all walks of life who interact in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual support.s

Students between the ages of 9 and 19, took part in three weekly rehearsals under the direction of well-known national and international musicians such as: Till Ihrig, Joseph Fink, Loretta Villas, Catherine Steph and Vincent Vleet.

Instructors and special guests from the Dominican Republic include the following: Vivian Lovelace, Marianela Sánchez, Caonex Peguero, David Díaz, Fernando Herrera, Sunil Mejía, Violeta Lockhart, Juan Valdez, Daniel Pérez, Mike Pereyra, Juan Junior García, Francisco Mojica, Johnny Mora, José Javier Ortega, Ilia Chen and Daniel Ortega.

The class program was developed to be carried out in three phases. The first phase dealt with a didactic session in which students learned the different strategies of music appreciation and, at the same time, the basic notions related to the concept of a Symphony Orchestra (repertory, evolution, history of musical pieces and their composers).

Young soloists from the National Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of Colombia were involved in this first phase. They were joined by renowned Dominican Mezzo-Soprano, Vivian Lovelace, in the Fine Arts School of San Juan de la Maguana.

The second phase involved the projection, on a giant screen, of rehearsals and concerts of the Berlin Philharmonic´s 2010-2011 season under the direction of Simón Rattle. The projections were shown on the wall in Sánchez Park in Maguana.
The third phase of the program involved the presentation of a chamber music repertory which was also open to university students and the general public. The musical event was held in the auditorium of the Western Regional University Center of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo.
At the closing event, they also showed the 2010-2011 season musical series of the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Alan Gilbert; the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel and the London Philharmonic under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski.

The Deep South Regional Office, under its Cultural Director Ángelo Valenzuela, and the Provincial Office of Culture under Xiomara Domínguez, were in charge of coordinating the program with the collaboration of the National School of Fine Arts and the Youth Symphony Orchestra of San Juan directed by Luis Antonio Tejeda. The event took place in cooperation with the US-based organization, Solid Rock Missions.

Vivian Lovelace and Luis Antonio Tejeda training children and young people at the School of Fine Arts in San Juan de la Maguana.


Luis Antonio Tejeda, Director of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of San Juan giving classes.


Students practicing.