The Special Needs Department in Barquisimeto

There has been a lot of coverage of this groundbreaking part of El Sistema's programming developed at the Barquisimeto Conservatory. The program's purpose is the integration of the special needs child: First with the family, the special needs ensembles and then into other musical programs in the nucleo (they aim to bring the students into regular programmes as much as possible).

This integration starts with the family and is the most important part of the program, with the belief that the family is the nucleo of society. There is participation from parents and siblings in the ensembles, but the teachers hope to show the capabilities of the students rather than their inabilities to promote and support unity in the family. The siblings and other students who are volunteers are committed to regular attendance and they have a responsibility to help with supervision from teachers. After an assessment of the students particular needs, lots of private work occurs with a teacher before they are integrated into an ensemble. The programs are deliberately a part of the conservatory programming so the community can see they have and should have the same opportunities. In fact, they have too many requests from other students to be involved, and to be a part of the Coro de Manos Blancas (White Hands Choir) in particular. Groups of students are put together according to cognitive as well as chronological ages.

 

Ensembles

• In the piano studio (Cathedra de piano), students undertake the same repertoire and exercises as the other students, but at a different pace. We saw performances from students who are sight and movement impaired, and autistic.
• The teacher of the recorder ensemble showed us how they teach the songs using pictures of the recorder with the finger holes coloured in for the different notes. Students often start their involvement in the program with recorders as it helps teachers to see how the child will progress with other ensembles.  
• The percussion ensemble has been going for six years, they started with classical repertoire and are now using more contemporary songs. The leader's teaching technique involves listening and repeating - he plays the song on the phone, they imitate using their instruments, and repeat and repeat. During this lengthy process they are creating their own adaptations of the original song.
• The Handbells ensemble seemed to include the majority of the younger students in the program. They can easily start with responsibility for one note in the melody, and participation allows for the awareness and understanding of contrapuntal music.
• White Hands Choir - For many of us, this experience was the highlight of our month's residency in Venezuela. The Coro de Manos Blancas has received the most attention of all the ensembles - the combination of watching the students express the music through their voices and their hands is very moving. Seeing their performances live definitely lived up to the expectations and then some. Whilst preparing for our trip, Ayriole had this great idea to learn the sign language for a simple spiritual she had taught us, 'Yonder Come Day'. With the help of the fabulous Andrea Olivo, who was a member of the choir and now lives in Boston, we rehearsed the signs for this song to perform to the White Hands Choir. This was a special moment as it was the first time a group has performed for them in sign language too! It was awesome to be able to share in some way and to thank them for their performances. Look on youtube for many of their videos...

Braille

An incredible part of this astonishing program is the Braille services they have developed. Three members of staff work on creating music and text in Braille for the students. They described the process: music is put into Finale which is then copied into the Lime Program, which translates the music directly into braille and then can be printed out on a special machine. They also create large print scores for the visually-impaired. If students ask, they will translate school and university textbooks and novels into Braille as well. These services are only available to students already in the program, and are sometimes an incentive for children to join. The department have amassed a vast database and so they often get requests (national and international) to translate material into braille.

They also explained how they have developed the incredibly complex system to codify music in Braille. It is very difficult to learn especially for those who have learnt some traditional music notation previously; there is no stave, separate codes are written for pitch and rhythm, and other codes indicate left hand and right hand in piano music before each note. Once they have read it, then begins the process to memorise it! The learning process is easier if students already know some basic braille. Others find the complex notation system constricting in terms of musical development and interpretation.

One member of the program, Gustavo, composes by dictating to assistants who put his music into Finale and then translate into braille. He is an active member of the program in many capacities. Gustavo is part of the percussion ensemble, starting on xylophone, and now on piano. He has also tried conducting, but translating the music into gestures was challenging, and it is also difficult to know where to signal each voice. Some students are able, however, to participate actively in orchestra and they benefit from their exceptional listening skills so they are not at so much of a disadvantage by not being able to see the signals given by the conductor.

Gustavo (below, second from left) directs an excellent chamber group of 5 male voices who focus on Venezuelan and LatinAmerican choral works. Their performances were full of vitality and hunour. He spoke so eloquently and passionately about the mission of the group in promoting traditional music, and he had arranged some of the songs for the group himself.

Another member of the ensemble, Daniel, (below, centre) sings with the Camarata Larense as well, and participates in their concerts and tours. I was able to have a great conversation with him despite my limited Spanish. I was telling him about my singing experience in Cambridge and he started waxing lyrical about the British choir Polyphony, conducted by Stephen Layton, which happens to be one of my favourite choirs, and not necessarily so well known outside of the UK. Layton is also one of the most inspiring conductors I've had the privilege to work with, so it was great to share that experience. Daniel has a really phenomenal voice, and sang a solo in the joint concert with the Schola Cantorum, including choreography where his fellow singers effortlessly and seamlessly guided him down the raised platform to the front of the stage to perform, and back quickly. That moment encapsulated for me the success of this program in integrating all musicians into ensembles suitable for their musical ability, and that this process is done as a team.