The Teatro Argentina, in Rome, will host the Concert for the Italian Semester of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on Sunday 30 November.
It will be a unique occasion that will bring together 120 instrumentalists in an ensemble accompanied by the Coro delle Voci Bianche - 40 boys from Reggio Emilia - and the Coro delle Mani Bianche, made up of children and adolescents with psychophysical disabilities from Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio and Piedmont, who interpret music through a language. In addition to the Italian and European national anthems, music by Beethoven, Verdi, Carreño and Modugno will be performed.
The event - organized on the occasion of the Italian semester of Presidency of the Council of the European Union Parliamentary Dimension, at the request of the President of the Senate Pietro Grasso - will see for the first time a single orchestra composed of the Italian and Venezuelan teams of the "El Sistema” founded about 40 years ago in Venezuela by Maestro José Antonio Abreu. "El Sistema" - 623.000 Venezuelan children and teenagers - which has obtained international recognition for the social work carried out in favor of young people, especially those who live in conditions of hardship, whether physical, social or economic, creating an integrated system of widespread and widespread public musical education, which guarantees free and open access to young people from all social classes.
“Material poverty can be defeated by spiritual wealth – these are the words of Maestro Abreu – and music sows its seed of life in the child and in the young predisposing him to the cult of the good, of the nobility of mind therefore of beauty, elevating his spirit.
An important moment that aims to underline and encourage the diffusion of the ambitious social project of the "System" - chaired in Italy by Roberto Grossi - which is concretely realizing a revolutionary possibility of redemption and hope for the new generations.
Music, as an effective tool for social integration and a way to develop the intelligence of human beings, is precisely the conception at the basis of the System of Orchestras and Youth and Children's Choirs in Italy Onlus, which was born in Italy in 2010 inspired by the model of the Venezuelan "El Sistema" founded by Maestro Abreu, promoted by Federculture and the School of Music of Fiesole, with the strong support of Maestro Claudio Abbado.
“Volunteering, at a time when the welfare state is lacking – comments Roberto Grossi – it has proved to be a winning weapon for intervening through musical education in situations of hardship and not abandoning those who live in the most disparate realities. And for this we must thank President Grasso who has offered us this opportunity and encourages us to go forward. However, it is essential that the State recognizes our experience and undertakes to support it.
In our country there are more than 8.500 children and teenagers who participate in the growth of this considerable project - which involves the development of social action through music - gathered in 60 nuclei distributed in 15 Italian regions, from the Milan and Turin hinterlands, to the Health of Naples, to the earthquake-hit areas of Reggio Emilia up to the places confiscated from the mafia. Therefore a strong commitment addressed mainly to children between 4 and 16 years of age, mainly handicapped or belonging to economically or culturally disadvantaged social classes.
The event was also possible thanks to the contribution of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Department of Youth and the National Civil Service, the Charlemagne Foundation, the Pasquinelli Foundation, Groupama Assicurazioni, of The Musical Curtain.
Special thanks go to the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Italian Republic, the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, the European Commission, the Higher Institute of Musical Studies of Reggio Emilia and Castelnuovo ne' Monti.
Concert for the Italian Semester of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union
Argentina Theater – Largo di Torre Argentina 42 – Rome
Sunday 30 November 2014 at 18.00 pm
Admission allowed by invitation
