Mérida State Symphony Orchestra

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Mérida State Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra
Orquestra Sinfonica del Estado Merida Panoramica.JPG
Founded 1991
Principal conductor César Iván Lara
Website www.osem.org.ve

The Mérida State Symphony Orchestra (Spanish: Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado Mérida or OSEM) is a symphony orchestra based in the Venezuelan city of Mérida. A non-profit organization, it was founded in 1991 by the Venezuelan pianist and educator José Antonio Abreu.

Spanish language Romance language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain and today has hundreds of millions of native speakers in the Americas and Spain. It is a global language and the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese.

Venezuela Republic in northern South America

Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and a large number of small islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the city of Caracas. It has a territorial extension of 916,445 km2. The continental territory is bordered on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Colombia, Brazil on the south, Trinidad and Tobago to the north-east and on the east by Guyana. With this last country, the Venezuelan government maintains a claim for Guayana Esequiba over an area of 159,542 km2. For its maritime areas, it exercises sovereignty over 71,295 km2 of territorial waters, 22,224 km2 in its contiguous zone, 471,507 km2 of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean under the concept of exclusive economic zone, and 99,889 km2 of continental shelf. This marine area borders those of 13 states. The country has extremely high biodiversity and is ranked seventh in the world's list of nations with the most number of species. There are habitats ranging from the Andes Mountains in the west to the Amazon basin rain-forest in the south via extensive llanos plains, the Caribbean coast and the Orinoco River Delta in the east.

Mérida, Mérida Place in Mérida, Venezuela

Mérida, officially known as Santiago de los Caballeros de Mérida, is the capital of the municipality of Libertador and the state of Mérida, and is one of the principal cities of the Venezuelan Andes. It was founded in 1558 by Captain Juan Rodríguez Suárez, forming part of Nueva Granada, but later became part of the Captaincy General of Venezuela and played an active role in the War of Independence.

Contents

History

The orchestra was established on June 21, 1991 and evolved from the Mérida State Youth Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1978 as part of the System of Youth Orchestras of Venezuela (FESNOJIV) and led by José Antonio Abreu.

El Sistema company

El Sistema is a publicly financed, voluntary sector, music-education program, founded in Venezuela in 1975 by Venezuelan educator, musician, and activist José Antonio Abreu. It later adopted the motto "Music for Social Change." El Sistema-inspired programs provide what the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies describes as "free classical music education that promotes human opportunity and development for impoverished children." By 2015, according to official figures, El Sistema included more than 400 music centers and 700,000 young musicians. The original program in Venezuela involves four after-school hours of musical training and rehearsal each week, plus additional work on the weekends. Most El Sistema-inspired programs in the United States provide seven or more hours of instruction per week, as well as free use of an instrument.

José Antonio Abreu Venezuelan musician

José Antonio Abreu Anselmi was a Venezuelan orchestra conductor, pianist, economist, educator, activist, and politician best known for his association with El Sistema. He was honored with the 2009 Latin Grammy Trustees Award, an honor given to people who have contributed to music by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

Its co-founder and first artistic director was Amílcar Rivas. Between 1994 and 1997, its Music Director was Sergio Bernal who extended the orchestra's repertoire of European and Latin American symphonic music. Between 1998 and 2001, the OSEM was led by Felipe Izcaray who initiated major programs of community outreach and education which became a fundamental part of the orchestra's activities. César Iván Lara has been the orchestra's Music Director since January 2004.

In the 2006 season, the orchestra participated in many official events of the Mérida State Government, University of the Andes, the FESNOJIV, and various municipalities, giving 39 symphony concerts and 108 teaching and chamber concerts in 21 municipalities in the State of Mérida. In 1999 the OSEM was designated a Patrimonio Cultural del Estado Mérida (Cultural Patrimony of the State of Mérida). [1]

Mérida (state) State of Venezuela

The Bolivarian State of Mérida, commonly known simply as Mérida State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Mérida, in the Libertador Municipality.

The orchestra began its 20th anniversary year on January 15, 2011 with a performance of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2 for the second annual Festival de Música de Mérida. [2]

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 was composed in 1872. One of Tchaikovsky's joyful compositions, it was successful right from its premiere and also won the favor of the group of nationalistic Russian composers known as "The Five", led by Mily Balakirev. Because Tchaikovsky used three Ukrainian folk songs to great effect in this work, it was nicknamed the "Little Russian" by Nikolay Kashkin, a friend of the composer as well as a well-known musical critic of Moscow. Ukraine was at that time frequently called "Little Russia".

See also

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References

  1. ↑ OSEM, Mérida Venezuela. Archived 2011-09-25 at the Wayback Machine .
  2. ↑ El Nacional (January 13, 2011). "Festival de Música de Mérida celebra su segunda edición" Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine .(in Spanish)
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