El Sistema NJ Alliance presents Fiddle-and-Fa-La-La-Fest June 3
NJSO CHAMPS student musicians will perform with their peers from across the state as part of the El Sistema New Jersey Alliance’s fourth annual Fiddle-and-Fa-La-La-Fest on Saturday, June 3, at John F. Kennedy High School in Paterson. Students from El Sistema-inspired programs all over New Jersey will be gathering, many with family members joining them, for a daylong festival of music-making together. The 3 pm concert is free and open to the public.
Fiddle-and-Fa-La-La-Fest will showcase the powerful learning that ensemble music-making brings to the young people of our state. Children from cities all over the state map will rehearse together for a culminating afternoon performance, as well as participate along with parents and siblings in drum circles, singing activities and movement games.
The public is invited to the 3 pm concert, which will be short (less than a half-hour) and high-energy, with some sing-along audience participation.
“The opportunity to come together and perform like this,” says ESNJA coordinator Shanna Lin, “allows the students to be part of something bigger than their home program—they see that there are kids across the entire state who are growing through music, just like they are. That’s a very empowering experience.”
El Sistema-inspired music education is a model of intensive youth development through ensemble music learning in inner-city and underserved communities. The model was first launched decades ago in Venezuela and has now spread across the world, reaching almost a million children in 65 countries, with 130 programs in the U.S. The El Sistema New Jersey Alliance is a network connecting New Jersey’s El Sistema-inspired programs. It provides students in the programs, ages 6 to 15, regular opportunities to learn and share with peers from across the state.
The seven ESNJA member programs are Paterson Music Project, NJSO CHAMPS (Newark), Union City Music Project, Trenton Music Makers, Orange – Sonic Explorations, Sister Cities Girlchoir (Camden) and Keys 2 Success (Newark).
Tricia Tunstall, one of the Alliance founders and an author of books about El Sistema, says, “What is distinctive about El Sistema is that it’s not a program about creating musicians, although that sometimes happens. It’s a program about creating happy and productive children, families and communities. Social inclusion, ensemble collaboration and musical excellence are the tools we use to achieve that goal.”
Watch students perform at last year’s Fiddle-and-Fa-La-La-Fest: