“Age doesn’t matter, nor whether you know how to sing or not, it’s an open group,” says Cris Rodríguez, one of the participants of L’Orquestra de Barri del Prat in this video. The group in question is made up of about twenty residents from the neighborhoods of Sant Jordi, Ribera Baixa, and Sant Cosme who don’t know how to sing or play instruments, but who achieve it with perseverance and passion. The orchestra rehearses at the Sant Jordi – Ribera Baixa Civic Center on Wednesdays from 6 PM to 7 PM.
Since its creation in late 2019, Fermí Herrero and Carla Azanuy, teachers from the city’s Escola d’Arts en Viu, have been leading the sessions which, without intending to be a therapeutic space, make people forget for a while the obstacles that the band members might be experiencing: “It’s an hour of not thinking about problems, I completely forget about them and then when I leave, reality returns,” comments another participant in the aforementioned video.
Precisely, this was the intention with which this community project, conceived between the Sant Jordi – Ribera Baixa Civic Center and the Escola d’Arts en Viu, was born. “We held a meeting where various agents from El Prat were present, such as social services, the Sant Cosme Municipal Strategic Plan, and an expert in community projects. There we decided that if the activity was to be for vulnerable people, it had to be free,” explains Azanuy.
Azanuy and Martínez share that right now they cannot incorporate anyone else into the group, as all places are occupied. Although the orchestra has varied, some have been there since day one. Azanuy recalls the first sessions: “A first rehearsal was held at the civic center in a room visible from the street, so if someone from outside saw us, they could join,” she details. This continues to be the band’s modus operandi, formed by people between fifty and sixty years old and also some young people.
“They feel a great well-being”
Thus, the project broadly brings together people with economic difficulties, mental health problems, and reduced mobility from El Prat. “They feel a great well-being because they network among themselves and do things they had never considered doing,” points out Núria Martínez, community facilitator at the Sant Jordi – Ribera Baixa Civic Center. All these benefits would make no sense if what they observe every day did not happen: attendees support each other and get involved and committed to the activity.
The implication is evident in the fact that those who want to play an instrument must learn it at home. The center, however, offers guitars, bongos, percussion boxes, and sticks. "We decided that it would not be a space for musical learning, but that they should have autonomy to learn," the coordinators emphasize. Despite the challenge, the good results are evident and, in fact, according to the people in charge, participants feel increasingly "empowered" to propose repertoire. "They are encouraged to make proposals and we have defined what they are best at," says Azanuy.
Empowerment also increases when new singers and musicians perform throughout the year in front of an audience in various spaces and facilities in the city, such as the elderly residence next to the civic center, at La Capsa, at the Sant Cosme festivities, or the International Romani Day. The next performance is today, June 19. They perform at Plaça de Pau Casals at 8:30 p.m. at the end-of-year party of the Escola d'Arts en Viu.
