On the 10th November, the Sistema Cyprus orchestra performed its first-ever concert, officially signalling the start of its orchestral activities.
Yet, while its orchestra is only just getting started, Sistema Cyprus has already made a name for itself both domestically and within the wider Sistema community.
Watch Sistema programmes from around the world welcome Sistema Cyprus
As early as February, Sistema Cyprus introduced itself to the Cypriot public, performing together with the Cyprus Chamber Orchestra at a fundraising concert conducted by the Belarus-based Venezuelan maestro, Gerardo Estrada Martinez.
Sistema Cyprus perform with Maestro Gerardo Martinez & the Cyprus Chamber Orchestra
Click here if you cannot hear/see the video.
And, with percusssion, singing and dance, Sistema Cyprus has been active at a number of events in 2018, putting on performances at the Nicosia Book Festival in May, Nicosia’s World Refugee Day Street Festival in June, the 4th anniversary of Nicosia’s Hope for Children CRC Policy Centre in July and at Nicosia’s World Tourism Day festivities in September.
Furthermore, members of the Sistema Cyprus team have worked hard to build international bridges, becoming familiar faces at Sistema events throughout Europe by sending a small team to attend SEYOs in Greece & England, Orquestra Geracao’s 10th anniversary celebrations in Lisbon and El Sistema Sweden’s annual El Sistema Academy in Stockholm.
Working with young refugees & migrants
In collaboration with the Hope for Children CRC Policy Centre and with the support of the European Cultural Foundation, the programme has also been making an invaluable societal contribution through its work with unaccompanied refugee minors and young children of migrant backgrounds.
Its Integration Sounds project uses music workshops to promote social integration and to bring together the Hope for Children's unaccompanied boys (aged 15-18) and marginalised children and young immigrants in Nicosia (aged 10-15).
In July, the boys and other Sistema Cyprus children formed a mainstay of the Hope for Children CRC Policy Centre's 4th anniversary celebrations, leading UNHCR representatives who were present at the time to later write about a "...stunning collaboration that took away cultural boundaries and created joy and friendship among the participants and the audience alike.".
In that same article commenting on the anniversary performances, the UNHCR also offered further encouragement to all groups working with refugee children, by underlining the general importance of working with unaccompanied minors and emphasising the crucial role which educational social programmes can play in the development of vulnerable groups:
Education is also the key in giving refugee children a chance of regaining their sense of self, and of a future. Participation in various types of educational programmes can foster social cohesion, address psychosocial needs, and offer a stable and safe environment for those who need it most. Education increases opportunities for self-reliance and provides a sense of purpose and continuity. What is more, educated children and youth stand a greater chance of becoming adults who can participate effectively in civic life.
UNHCR/Cyprus
Sistema Cyprus in a nutshell
Indeed, community work and social education are at the heart of what Sistema Cyprus is about and, as a Sistema-inspired social action music project, Sistema Cyprus seeks to realise two key objectives:
- making music education in orchestras and choirs accessible to all children
- promoting respect and recognition of vulnerable population groups within Cypriot society.
Sistema Cyprus realises these objectives in the course of daily lessons, weekly rehearsals and regular public performances with its three nucleos.
Photos of Sistema Cyprus
Photos of the first orchestral performance courtesy of Mario Papafo, all other images courtesy of Sistema Cyprus.
Use the arrows to scan the gallery
The two nucleos involved in the Integration Sounds project mentioned above are the Feneromeni nucleo & the Home for Hope nucleo, both of which are based in Nicosia. The Feneromeni nucleo is established in the Peace Room in Old Nicosia (provided by the Nicosia Municipality), where it has an orchestra and a choir and focuses on working with immigrant, refugee, Roma and Cypriot children in the neighbourhood. Meanwhile, the Home for Hope nucleo is formed of young unaccompanied boys from Syria and Africa (aged 15-18), who live in a Hope for Children shelter in Nicosia and lead bi-weekly workshops with the younger children of the Faneromeni nucleo.
Last but not least, there is the Larnaca nucleo, which is run in collaboration with the Foundation for Cultural Creativity for Children and Young People. Based in the Agios Lazaros area of Larnaca, this nucleo focuses on the children of refugees, immigrants & Cypriots from low‐level socioeconomic and educational backgrounds, promoting a musical focus on percussion, with the group under the leadership of the teenage drummer, Eva Nicolaidou.
And, so it begins
In November, Sistema Cyprus' preparatory work in all of its nucleos successfully came together, as Fanoromeni Square shook to the sounds of Sistema Cyprus playing the first of many orchestral concerts to come.
Following just one short month of orchestral tuition, the 10th November saw 65 children from Larnaca and Nicosia perform to the warmest of applause. The concert was led by Petros Stylianou, Artistic Director and Conductor of Sistema Cyprus, and El Sistema Sweden's Ron Davis Alvarez, who was himself concluding a week spent in Cyprus after having flown in early to help prepare Sistema Cyprus for its landmark concert.
Watch a short clip of Sistema Cyprus' first orchestral concert
Coming soon
On 9th March 2019, Sistema Cyprus will put on their next big orchestral performances, taking to the stage with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra in two side-by-side concerts at one of Cyprus' biggest theatres, the Strovolos Municipal Theatre.
Sistema Europe wishes the programme all the very best for the future and looks forward to seeing both the concerts in March and many more performances going forwards, as Sistema Cyprus and its students progress.
Want to keep track of the latest Sistema Cyprus developments?
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