Three outstanding teachers of musical groups from Saint Lucia are in Caracas, capital of Venezuela, participating in an intensive musical training seminar, organised by the Núcleo del Sistema Nacional de Orquestas, from 3 to 16 June, at the headquarters of the Centro de Acción Social por la Música (Centre of Social Action for Music).
The seminar offers complete theoretical-practical training, with a special focus on musical didactics under the El Sistema method, recognised worldwide for its impact on musical and social education.
Participants will have the opportunity to take part in a variety of activities and workshops designed for their speciality. This programme includes not only music theory and practice, but also instrument maintenance and repair, pedagogical planning and choral conducting, ensuring comprehensive preparation.
Professors Pearl Tench, conductor and string teacher of the Saint Lucia National Orchestra; Merisa Henry, string teacher at the Castries North Music Project; and Robert René, conductor of the National Combined Choir, are doing outstanding work with children in several primary schools on the Caribbean island, and this training will allow them to consolidate their music education projects.
The development of this activity involves the joint effort and support of the Ministry of Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information of Saint Lucia, which reaffirms the interest in training and strengthening its cultural programmes, as well as the commitment of the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to regional cooperation programmes, within the framework of the Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace and integration.
Both countries work together, through the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Saint Lucia, to promote initiatives that benefit their peoples and the common welfare in the Caribbean region, with the National System of Youth and Children Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela (El Sistema) being a model to follow as a tool for social transformation through music.