(HOST) Here in Vermont, we’re comfortable with the notion that the arts enrich our lives, but filmmaker, teacher and commentator Jay Craven has just encountered an artistic endeavor that – quite literally – saves lives.
(CRAVEN) I recently visited Venezuela for film screenings and workshops as part of my travel for the American Film Institute. I was partnered there with Venezuelan filmmaker, Alberto Arvelo, whose powerful documentary, "To Play and To Fight" tells the story of the 30 year-old Venezuelan Youth Orchestra, which has transformed the lives of more than a million young people, by providing them with musical instruments and instruction.
The Venezuelan Youth Orchestra system recruits players from every corner of the nation, including many abandoned kids from the poorest and most crime and drug-ravaged villages. Children as young as two perform on stage. The system includes orchestras and choirs for pre-schoolers and kids with serious learning and physical disabilities.
According to the BBC, 90% of the young musicians come from the nation’s lowest economic class. The orchestra covers their costs and even provides free transportation to rehearsals. In the poor Sarria barrio of Caracas, young musicians are not allowed to take their instruments home because of the risk of being mugged. Some kids come to class with headaches because their families cannot afford food.
More than 90 youth orchestras proliferate throughout the country – and the touring Orchestra performs in the great European concert halls with some 800 musicians and choral singers onstage. I’ve never seen or heard anything like it. You can catch a glimpse for yourself on You Tube where the Orchestra performs Leonard Bernstein’s "Mambo."
"To Play and to Fight" shows how these young musicians become the pride of their communities. And, indeed, notions of community are central. "What is an orchestra?" asks visionary founder Jose Antonio Abreu. "It’s a community that comes together with the fundamental objective of agreeing with itself – of producing harmony, where everyone is responsible for others and the others are responsible for oneself."
The Venezuelan Youth Orchestra has produced many world-class musicians. Opera star Placido Domingo cried when he saw it play, remarking – quote – "the truth is, I have never felt so moved, not only because of the emotion of the moment, but I must say, by the quality."
Sir Simon Rattle, director of the Berlin Philharmonic, is featured in the film as a guest conductor – quote – "I saw an orchestra where nobody’s feet touched the ground, literally," said Rattle, "led by an 8 year-old who had no business having so much technique on a violin. It’s so clear that the work being done here is not only enriching lives – it’s saving lives."
"The Orchestra," he says, "is doing the most important work in classical music anywhere in the world. And clearly it’s the most important thing in the world to these kids."
Far more than social work – the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra is a testament to the power of the arts, to foster excellence and a commitment to something larger than oneself. "To Play and To Fight" shows this – and demonstrates how discipline and practice can also cultivate self-respect, mutual compassion, collaboration, success, and an emotional clarity that is so fundamental to the subtle and transcendent language of music.