I’ve just completed my second year with Red Musical, a free music school with over 26 schools scattered throughout Medellin.  It’s a big commitment but well worth it.  I receive one hour of instruction per week in the following:  theory, choir, band and saxophone.  Several times per year we hold concerts and recitals.

I think I’m learning saxophone quickly because I’ve been teaching myself piano for the last four years.  I definitely want music to always be a part of my life.

This music school has a fantastic history.  It was started to get kids off the streets, to give them hope and an opportunity, to make music an important cultural value in the Medellin society.  Now there are schools scattered throughout the most challenging barrios and lives are being changed.

If you want to read more, here is a 2010 news article on the music school but first here is a video of my first saxophone recital after studying saxophone for almost a year and a half. During my first semester in the music school, we took an exploration class where each week we learned about a different instrument. I chose alto saxophone!

The Music Schools of Medellin: An oboe for a gun

For years, the neighborhoods that sprawl over the mountains in northern Medellin, known locally as “Las Comunas,” have been consumed by poverty, unemployment, and gang warfare. For young people, the lure of crime can be overwhelming. Pressure to join armed gangs for protection and to earn a livelihood is constant, and with a lack of other viable options, the young people from these communities are often drawn into the world of violence and crime.

However, amidst all of this chaos and violence comes a breath of fresh air, in the form of the rather eerie sound of beautiful classical music flowing through the air in the Barrio Popular #1 neighborhood. In the heart of “Las Comunas” grows a seed that was planted many years ago, with the intention of giving the young people of this area an alternative path in life. The Music School of Barrio Popular #1 has blossomed over the years, guiding the lives of many hundreds of young people from the neighborhood, by showing them that drugs and violence are not the way to go.  Continue Reading