Teachers and mentors from the new Chineke! orchestra and from Portugal’s Orquestra Geração will join Venezuelan conductor Félix Briceño and young musicians and staff from In Harmony Lambeth, In Harmony Liverpool, Sistema in Norwich and The Nucleo Project for a week of inspiring music making in Sistema England’s Young Leaders Programme.

Guest consultant is Chi-chi Nwanoku MBE, renowned double bass player and founder of Chineke!, Europe’s first Black and Minority Ethnic orchestra, who will lead a master class. She is joined by Braimah (17) and Sheku Kanneh-Mason (16), Laura Anstee, Nikki Hicks and Nathan Knight, musicians from Chineke! who are part of the teaching team for the week.

‘I am delighted that these exceptional musicians are participating as Chineke! ambassadors in their work as teachers and mentors with Sistema England,’ said Chi-chi.

Juan Carlos Maggiorani, Artistic Director of Orquestra Geração will teach violin for the week, joined by two of Geração’s most skilled and dedicated young musicians: Margarida Abrantes (18) and Telmo Martins (19).

Juan said: ‘It’s a fantastic opportunity for our young leaders to participate in this musical week. They will be able to share all their experience and joy of making music together with young people from different countries. I am proud to accompany these two young musicians, who started in the very first year of El Sistema Portugal. It’s fascinating to see the idea of Sistema growing on this side of the Atlantic, much in the same way I saw it grow firsthand back in Venezuela.’

Sistema England is grateful to the generous funders and in-kind supporters of the Sistema England Young Leaders programme:

The BBB Violin Trust
The Ashla Charitable Trust
Norie Charitable Trust
Kingswood Learning and Leisure Group Limited
Individual donors through JustGiving: www.justgiving.com/sistema-young-leaders

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Chineke! champions change and celebrates diversity in classical music, and aims to be a catalyst for change in the industry. The Chineke! Foundation is a non-profit organisation established to provide career opportunities for young Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) classical musicians in the UK and Europe.

Orquestra Geração is a Sistema programme in Portugal that aims to provide children and young adults from challenging circumstances with an extensive education program that will help their social integration. It achieves this goal through music, especially orchestra playing. Founded in 2007, the programme works with 810 children in 20 schools in Lisbon, Coimbra and Oporto.