PIANOFORTE AT THE MUSIC CAMP “Side by Side by El Sistema, Sweden”
The impressions from the music camp “Side by Side” remain permanently with the participating music students. The magic also touched Pianoforte five years ago when a student of the school, a violinist from Sweden, shared her impressions with us. This year we didn’t want to miss such an opportunity so we decided to visit the camp and start the summer active and productive, together with our young violinist Petar.
WHAT IS “Side by Side”?
“Side by Side” by “El Sistema” (https://www.sidebysidegoteborg.com/) is an international music camp for orchestra and choir, organized by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and supported by the City of Gothenburg and numerous local institutions that proudly sponsor the event. With its growth of ten years, it has already made a regular entry into the yearly calendar of young musicians aged 6-23, primarily from Sweden and the surrounding area, but also by members of El Sistema-inspired programs around the world. They rehearse and perform together in Gothenburg’s Concert Halls.
IMPRESSIONS
Alongside our professional opinion, the parents of nine-year-old Petar (who courageously and confidently embarked on this musical adventure for the first time) shared their impressions. They proudly followed Petar to all rehearsals and events and will tell us firsthand what they saw and experienced.
“As soon as ‘Side by Side’ accepts the application, you are being informed in which orchestra track the student is accepted into and you receive the music to start preparing in cooperation with the cherished teachers of PIANO FORTE. In the camp, the participants are divided into:
– Instrumentalists who are assigned to various orchestras according to age and the instrument, i.e. the style of music they play and
– Vocals with participation in choirs.
Rehearsals are at first held in small groups of 15-20 instrumentalists, and then the entire orchestra joins together for a joint rehearsal, and so alternately.
Rehearsals are held by renowned professors/conductors from all over the world who manage to keep the students’ attention, especially of the younger participants. Rehearsals are held in a cozy atmosphere, all participants dressed in the same Festival t-shirts (it was like a heaven on earth experience, especially for those who accompany the children to the rehearsals, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and Teresa cheered to herself that the orchestra will be more and more sonorous with each subsequent rehearsal 😊 ). During the rehearsals, the professors and conductors created an atmosphere that all the children, although they are different and come from different parts of the world (Macedonia, USA, Spain, Moldova, Romania, Greece, Germany), that they have come to be one in the orchestra and are welcome in Gothenburg to be part of ‘Side by Side’. A large number from the participants from Sweden have been nurturing their desire to be a part of ‘Side by Side’ for years now and proudly wear their t-shirts with the colors of the previous camp editions.
The rehearsals themselves are actually lectures by the conductor who explains to the children in a simple way what his movements mean, how to play, how to follow him. And those little wonderful minds remembered everything!
The summer camp ends with concerts in which all the orchestras and choirs participate alternately, and for some compositions together, in front of a pleasant Swedish and international audience that does not spare applause for the small and big geniuses.
The registration starts in the month of November, and information about the accepted enrollment comes in the month of January. The next edition of the ‘Side by Side’ camp will be from June 15-19, 2024.
I hope for a lot of interest and participation for next year, so that we can all have the most musical and friendly time” – Elena