Uniting People and Community

Uniting People and Community

Ways of Expression

What are YOU speaking with?

Did you ever ask yourself this question? It may seem simplistic… but nevertheless the answer contains the essence of who you are, what your Values are, what your Purpose is, what you are passionate about, what Life means to you and how you express yourself and communicate with your family, your community and to the world.

What are YOU missing most?

We are often so busy with “doing our job” that we forget that life is certainly not about selling or buying… and that it’s important to reflect on what our true values are… and what we miss most, in other words: what keeps us from being aligned with our Purpose.

When my wish to return back home to South Africa after more than two decades became irresistible, I tried to figure out what I was missing most – the sunshine? the space? the people? Nature?

Well, it was a bit of everything , however, what I missed most was … the Music! While I heard great operas, concerts, jazz festivals, big live bands in many major towns and locations… there was something I missed: the simple yet enthusiastic musicality of people in everyday life.

I remembered it again the other day… in the super market… where just everybody was singing, whistling or even swinging along with the music that streamed through the vast hall… There was a smile and a twinkle in absolutely everyone’s eyes while swirling trolleys around the shelves, queueing for fresh-baked bread or waiting at the cashiers on one side – and putting products on shelves, cutting up fresh fruit or serving customers on the other. Music was the universal language, the glue, the bond for perfect co-existence between all people, never mind the age, culture or background. It became the vehicle for feeling part of the whole like in a scene only Federico Fellini would have been able to capture in all its magic and intensity.

Togetherness – Learn to Listen to each other

Music is the Spirit to Live by… and as it touched me so much I wish to share a phenomenal initiative by charismatic Maestro José Antonio Abreu from Venezuela who  founded El Sistema (“the system”) in 1975 to help Venezuelan kids from poor backgrounds become “some-one” by learning to play a musical instrument and being part of an orchestra.

Today, El Sistema has grown into a nationwide organization of 102 youth orchestras, 55 children’s orchestras, and 270 music centers — and close to 250,000 young and happy musicians… some of which have pursued major international careers, eg. the bassist Edicson Ruiz, who at 17 became the youngest musician ever to join the Berlin Philharmonic.

Enjoy some fabulous musical moments with the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra with the best high school musicians from ‘El Sistema’, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, playing  Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10, 2nd movement, and Arturo Márquez’ Danzón No. 2 – as featured on my favorite site: TED.

Click HERE if the movie above does not appear.

I listened to “the 10th” myself in the early 70′s in Berlin, masterfully conducted by Herbert von Karajan. But what we hear above is something totally different. . . it comes from deep within as part of a cultural transformation – completely inspired and… inspiring.

“We are speaking with Music” says a young musician, “Music is Life”.

“Social Rescue” – Way out of Spiritual Crisis

Jose Abreu, Maestro

What is the concept behind José Antonio Abreu‘s work, what is his Dream?

As you can hear in this incredible speech that reaches far beyond Music and Art and can be seen in the light of any form of Teamwork, including our online activities at YORGOO,  “…an orchestra is first and foremost about together­ness, a place where children learn to listen to each other and to respect one another. Music has to be recognized as an … agent of social development in the highest sense, because it transmits the highest values — solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it has the ability to unite an entire community and to express sublime feelings.”

Uniting People and Community

Abreu’s Dream expands far beyond Venezuela’s boundaries, in fact, he wants to “… bring music to kids worldwide”, asking everyone to help him on his visionary path to establish ethical as well as aesthetical Values across the globe … this post is part of paying hommage to this fine initiative and spreading the word.

Take a moment and listen to a real leader in a time of uncertainty, trouble and conflict:

Please click HERE if you cannot see the above video.

Inspiration and Miracles

Be inspired by great people who follow their Dream giving freely of themselves for the good of the Community. You will intuitively know your own priorities from a higher level of Knowing.

Bianca Gubalke

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Tags: Art, Arturo Márquez’ Danzón, Community, connectedness, Dmitri Shostakovich, El Sistema, Gustavo Dudamel, Jose Antonio Abreu, knowing, Listen, Music, Social Rescue, Spiritual Crisis, togetherness

This entry was posted on May 6, 2009 at 8:16 pm and is filed under Art, Online Communication, Touch Vision Talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.