MAKING MUSIC TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
ESO program teaches young musicians discipline, focus and
co-operation
By JUDY PIERCEY
PEN AND LENS COMMUNICATIONS
Imagine kids working together for almost three hours every day after school: It’s the kind of
discipline and focus you might expect of athletes training for an elite competition. But at St. Alphonsus Catholic School, the 85 kids intensely practicing musical instruments every day are striving for co-operation, not competition. They’re learning how to work together, to empathize with each other and to acquire the skills to become better community members and leaders.
The music program, offered through the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, is called YONA-
Sistema. YONA is an acronym for Youth Orchestra of Northern Alberta and it’s based on the successful El Sistema model developed in Venezuela, which uses music to transform children’s lives. The goal is to help kids empathize with each other, not just to achieve their own human potential, but also to create community leaders who will lead social change.
On a Monday afternoon at St. Alphonsus Catholic School, teaching artist Natalie Boisvert starts the woodwinds lesson by gathering the kids in a circle to talk about their weekend.
“We’ll do oranges and lemons. Let’s talk about something good that happened to you. That’s an orange. And something not so good, that’s a lemon.”
She hands a child a plastic flute to be used as a talking stick. The little girl’s “orange” was a visit
with her cousin. Her lemon: “My dog bit me.” She lifts her pant leg to show the bite and all the kids lean in for a good look. Several tiny hands shoot up as the children vie for the talking stick to ask questions about the bite or to share their own stories about dogs.
It’s this kind of empathy and sharing that sets YONA-Sistema apart, says Heather Bergen, a
second violinist with the ESO.
“My own path to music, the Royal Conservatory and the Vancouver Youth Orchestra, was very
competitive. But I don’t get any of that from these kids. They learn their pieces together, they praise each other, they encourage each other, they support each other. “
Bergen, who as one of eight ESO ambassadors with YONA, visits every couple of months to
coach, nurture and play violin with the kids. Most of the kids were six or seven years old when Bergen started coming and she’s astonished by the changes she’s seen.
“Even simple things like lining up,” she recalls with a laugh. “The first time I saw them lining up for a concert, it was truly funny. There was just no concept. Now they glide on together. There’s real discipline. I think that discipline is grounded in respect, respect for their teachers and respect for each other.”
That discipline is obvious from the concentration on the children’s faces as they play their child-sized instruments. Some of them are in Grade 2, with the eldest in Grade 10. Most, however, are in elementary or junior high and are bused to St. Alphonsus from Delton Public School and St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic School.