"Orchestra Music Rocks!" Music for social change in the Caribbean.

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Every afternoon after school, Tiffany, Simeon, Grace, Shanda, Anika, Joshua, Mya, Michelle, and Travis know that the best part of the day is still ahead. Instruments in hand, they race down the streets of Castries, the capital of Saint Lucia, to find each other at the Marchand Youth Orchestra. They are children from low-income families in neighborhoods besieged by violence, unemployment, drugs, and despair. But the music school that awaits them every day is an oasis--a place of entertainment, learning, friendship, and support, a place to grow up around music.

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In three different countries of the Caribbean, 250 children like these are learning music every day as part of an orchestra program for at-risk youth that the OAS began in 2009. Thanks to a multilateral effort led by the OAS Art Museum of the Americas (AMA), children from Haiti, Jamaica, and Saint Lucia have been able to turn music into a tool for forging a new and hopeful outlook on life. Under the name OASIS (the Spanish acronym for Orchestras of the Americas for Social Inclusion), the OAS program aims to help reduce school drop-out rates and counteract the factors that lead to youth violence.

Studies and experience with orchestras in different countries of the hemisphere--including the pioneering Venezuelan model have shown that a musical instrument, a handful of children and youth, and a teacher can be effective weapons in the fight against youth violence, gangs, and drugs.

Intensive work in groups is part of what makes the model successful. The orchestra environment is ideal for socialization and for the development of group work skills that are useful in academic, social, and work settings. Teamwork implies commitment, collegiality, and discipline, and it helps to generate a spirit of community and respect among the participants. Former Saint Lucia orchestra director John Paul Bailey observed that while the children fought frequently at first, this dynamic quickly gave way to one of stimulation, mutual support, and trust.

These extra-musical outcomes are critically important in orchestra work with at-risk youth. Many of the children and youth who are beneficiaries of the program come from broken homes and they all come from difficult financial situations. Some have had to deal with abuse or rejection by their parents. The orchestra becomes their family in a way. It gives them a sense of belonging and hope, and a reason to face each day.

ON STAGE...