Beauty for all (musical marathons) aims at social inclusion and geographical cohesion through music.
Once every two years during Spring, across the border between Portugal and Spain, a touring, pocket-sized orchestra performs free concerts by the dozen in sparsely populated rural regions. Composed by young musicians from both countries, it promotes the reconnection between communities and territories via the contact of local populations with the aesthetic power of classical music, while nurturing local talent in an effort to halt brain drain across these rapidly aging communities.
National
Portugal
We've played in the following villages, located in the municipalities of Sabugal, Covilhã, Penamacor, Belmonte, Nelas, Pinhel and Fundão:
Rapoula do Côa, Alfaiates, Aldeia Velha (Sabugal), Soito, Ferro, Vale Formoso, Orjais, Teixoso, Benquerença, Nossa Senhora da Póvoa, Colmeal da Torre, Maçainhas, Inguias, Caria, Carvalhal Redondo, Canas de Senhorim, Santar, Lapa do Lobo, Freixedas, Lameiras, Azêvo, Pínzio, Pêro Viseu, Alcongosta, Póvoa de Atalaia, Atalaia do Campo, Gaia (Belmonte), Carvalhal Formoso, Monte do Bispo, Malpique
Mainly rural
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
2021-06-06
As individual(s) in partnership with organisation(s)
First name: Martim Last name: Sousa Tavares Gender: Male Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: Orquestra Sem Fronteiras / Orchestra Without Borders supports young musicians’ talent in inland Portugal and Spain. We do this by fighting the abandonment of music teaching and rewarding academic excellence through concerts, music education, and grant giving.
We also exist to spread access to culture, and for this we work across dozens of localities in the countryside, offering free concerts, open rehearsals, and pedagogy & introduction to music for local people.
We champion values of cooperation and international integration, combining Portuguese and Spanish musicians side by side. Nationality: Portugal Function: Director Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Av. Joaquim Morão Town: Idanha-a-Nova Postal code: 6060-713 Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 917 691 082 E-mail:info@osf.pt Website:https://osf.pt/
Our musical marathons, or as we like to call them, “marathons with pocket-orchestra”, are a biennial initiative designed for the decentralization and democratization of access to culture, as well as more cohesive communities through the nurturing of young, local talent. Every other year during Spring, we perform free concerts in dozens of small towns, which are presented by our music director through an informal exchange of ideas about music and the meaningful power of an orchestra. This program is developed across rural regions along the border between Portugal and Spain. Demographic and social factors show that this extensive area and its communities live under immense and diverse risks of exclusion. This region, the Iberian Raya, is faced with a number of challenges which arise from its peripheral situation and mostly rural nature. Characterized by a low population density, statistical evidence indicates that local communities are aging fast and becoming more isolated, while individuals are ever more disconnected and crushed by lower-incomes and difficult chances to thrive. These factors pose a serious threat to the individual and collective quality of life and citizenship of these communities leading to increasing inequality. We act on the belief that cultural participation is not just a right to every citizen but also a way of reinforcing the identity of a community and fostering values of inclusion and a sense of belonging. Music, among the arts, lends itself effortlessly to the cause, being a means of bringing a community together and sharing a moment of beauty. That is why the presence of an orchestra, especially one composed by young musicians who come from this same region, has an impact that goes well beyond the moment of the concert. The encounter between audience and musicians, the music and the chatter around it, all translate into an impact that is felt by participants in these events and helps establish a sense of purpose and belonging across all.
Decentralization
Inclusion
Cohesion
Music
Youth
The aspects of sustainability in this project are laid out along two lines of action: In-house resources, local proximity, and circular economy. Additionally, and whereupon possible, we strive for best practices in terms of environmental impact.
This means that all logistics, from transportation to lodging or meals, are worked out making use of our partners’ resources, be it host municipalities or other collaborating organizations. The orchestra staff and musicians have shared meals with residents of local daycare centers in their canteens, they have slept scattered among traditional B&B housing and have been transported between one village and another by means of hybrid buses every time such a transportation is made available. This is also a way to boost the circular economy, since all services hired are provided by local service providers, meaning that no income is draining away from the communities. This way, the presence of the orchestra translates into a positive economic effect at the local level.
From the technical point of view, the orchestra is designed to be technically light, not having to rely on any kind of sound system and playing with natural light, also dismissing the need for indoor climatization, since the concerts are promoted during Spring. All the instruments chosen are light and portable, which means that musicians, technicians and instruments all travel on the same bus, avoiding the need for a cargo van to tag along.
Lastly, the fact that each cycle of concerts runs along a weekend means that the events are concentrated so as to minimize the consumption of resources related to longer stays. The path of the orchestra within each municipality is alway calculated in terms of geographic coherence, in order to minimize the consumption of gas when traveling in combustion-engine vehicles.
Our main goal is to offer an impactful aesthetic and emotional experience. In the context where we work, it can be said classical music is one of the most far-removed fields of art. Traditionally, it lives in urban concert halls, performed for and enjoyed by a profile of well-educated people with above-average levels of income. This music is usually paired with conservative values and the idea of a high-brow art. When playing these concerts, for people who have greatly impoverished cultural habits, we know that in all likelihood we are the first orchestra they are ever seeing live, and for sure the first to perform in loco. This way, we turn the equation upside down, making classical music at home in the periphery, played with devotion and generosity for those who otherwise might not have ever experienced it. However, this isn’t about helping save classical music, but reconnecting with people and places through an act of listening and sharing a moment of beauty together. It is about caring for these places and their communities and showing that they, too, are accounted for. In 2021, we chose to perform the music of Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, whose work is still virtually unknown in Portugal and Spain, let alone across rural regions. Thus, his music was eagerly heard for the first time by communities of 18 small towns in what proved to be a demonstration of how music can unite what seems to be far: The Iberian peninsula and the Nordic countries. Classical music and the rural world. Social peripheries and the excellence of a classical orchestra. Young musicians and aged audiences. This initiative wishes to inspire other organizations committed to tackle social stigma and serves to prove that decentralizing the access to culture is possible and extremely rewarding. If a young orchestra can perform in isolated towns, then nothing is too far off. The model, however innovative it might seem, is perfectly replicable in other formats and with different artforms
This project is designed to serve specific communities that are typically inhabited by an aging population living in isolated rural villages and small towns. Our main objectives are the reinforcement of the individuals’ sense of belonging to their community, as well as adding value to their presence in these neglected territories. To do this, our project is thoroughly planned with close involvement of our local partners to reach target populations and create a meaningful experience that can lead towards a more involved community. Our partnerships include institutions, social workers and people who are themselves part of these communities’ daily life, which means that we are coming to them from within and not as outsiders.
All concerts have free admission and are played in places that are central to the local communal life, such as churches, parish halls, and community centers. This means all efforts are made to turn the concert experience into something that feels natural and where the community feels at home. These concerts are also advertised at a local level through our partners, and by word of mouth. We also communicate via our digital channels and physical publicity, but it is through the actual contact with the community that we assure everyone’s attendance.
Lastly, both the repertoire to be performed and the talk accompanying the concert are carefully prepared so that the experience translates into the maximum possible gain in terms of cultural and social reward for those attending. Without patronizing, the language chosen, the posture of the musicians and the music played, all translate the happiness of being there in that given moment, playing for people who are experiencing a concert like this for the first time in their lives.
This initiative is an example of “think local, act local” philosophy, employing best practices and making sure, to the last detail, that the experience is rewarding in all aspects.
To explain the impact of this initiative, it is necessary to reveal how we stand in cultural participation. According to recent data, the cultural participation in Portugal and the consumption of cultural content is very low: Over 60% of the population has not read a single book over the previous year, one-third doesn’t use the internet and 70% never visited any museum. However, these results reflect the average of Portugal as a whole, not making a difference between urban and rural territories. Across the latter, average income is 40% lower than in urban areas and poverty incidence and social exclusion is around 7% higher. Education and social mobility levels are also considerably lower. These communities have virtually no way to participate in cultural activities, since the offer is nearly non-existent. Attending mass still is, across most of these territories, the main means of coming together as a community. Many people among these territories don’t have other stimuli for leaving home, which leads to more disconnected communities of isolated individuals, contributing to the loss of a shared sense of identity and belonging, reflected in the disappearance of collective memories, traditions and practices. Adding to this, these are aging communities, which paints a very dire scenario, both socially and culturally. For such communities, it cannot be understated the importance and significance of having an orchestra, composed by young musicians who come from their territory, perform concerts in their own hometown, meaning they don’t have to go elsewhere to attend them. Moreover, to many of these places we ensure a comeback, in an effort to create connections and establish a practice of participation, however occasional it might be. By giving these people a chance to participate in events like ours, we encourage them to demand and expect more occasions like this, creating a sense of curiosity which leads to greater mobility and mobilization of the community as a whole
Orquestra Sem Fronteiras, the promoter of this initiative, has its headquarters in Idanha-a-Nova, a small city located less than 40 km away from the border between Spain and Portugal. However homely we might feel here, we know that each municipality and communities along the Iberian Raya have its own challenges and characteristics. That is why we could never plan and execute something as challenging and ambitious as our Marathons, in as many places as we do, without the support of local institutions and partners from the onset.
We start planning the Marathons a year in advance, in collaboration with staff from all involved municipalities, whose social services know just where we are needed the most. Once identified the towns or villages to be visited, we get down to a more local level, working with local NGOs or other social organizations, always backed by the Municipality. This is the only way we can ensure to get to the people who really need us the most. Our partners are stakeholders in local social life, from the local church to retirement homes, from daycare units to local marching bands.
Once the logistics are worked out and the plan is set, that is when the music schools and conservatories that are located within the Iberian Raya come in. We send out a call to these institutions seeking their best students to make up our orchestra. Being faithful to the principle of subsidiarity, we delegate our auditions, since we believe that it should be the schools and the teachers who decide who are the most worthy students. This way, and because we pay every participant a fee akin to that of a professional orchestra, we intend to motivate these young musicians to excel in their study and embed in them a sense of belonging in their region and reconnection with its communities.
When preparing an upcoming cycle of marathons, there are many fields of knowledge we call upon. Firstly, because we are an orchestra, there is the musical expertise and its practicalities. This means not just the ability to rehearse and play at the highest level, but also the capacity to deliver the concerts, made possible through the actions of a diligent and resourceful production team, capable of accommodating our orchestra in small venues which, although not meant for concerts, are the only places where we can play, as well as overseeing an intense activity that runs at the pace of five concerts over just a couple days in as many different locations. Secondly, comes the social aspect of what we do. Here, we bring in our own experts, combining music with pedagogical, sociological and psychological approaches. We have in our team two such professionals, who help us steer our community-based projects and guide them according to what we believe to be best practices in this field. We do what we do for the people, and that requires an approach as responsible and respectful as possible.
It is with this rich set of talents and capacities that we then set to work with our partners, sometimes learning from them, others giving them advice and guiding the processes ourselves. Our philosophy is that we act in the best interests of local communities and musicians, thus striving to create environments that are safe spaces to all throughout the whole project, from the first rehearsal to the last of the concerts. We believe that this is the only way we can have everyone at the best of their capabilities, be it as a curious listener or as a performer of excellence. In the end, we believe respect translates into respect, and our approach reflects exactly the kind of society we wish to be part of: One that is mindful of one another, where each individual is taken into consideration and given an opportunity to participate in community life, enriching it in its own unique way.
Our project is ultimately about establishing and reviving connections. It takes place in regions where there are municipalities with less than 20% of the population under the age of 40, where young people are raised under the premise that one day they’ll have to flee if they wish to succeed professionally.
Through something as simple as playing music and talking about it, coming together in person around the presence of an eager and young orchestra that performs from village to village, we are endorsing a renewed model of human connections, not just within communities but also making the link between them and the land itself.
As a result of our action since 2019, we find that, from the communities’ point of view (as collected in qualitative feedback from participants and local authorities), there is a greater mobility and engagement, with individuals seeking out opportunities to participate in other cultural activities. We consistently notice that whenever we perform in a village, we have rates of participation that go well above 90% of the local population, which shows the immense capacity for outreach of these projects. But what’s more, we bear witness to these communities demanding a richer cultural offer from local administrations. We also have noticed an increase in mid-range mobility whenever we come back to perform concerts and find people who are coming from different locations, breaking isolation in order to be present in a concert. On the other hand, we have been steadily supporting, over the past four years, over 200 young musicians from inland Portugal and Spain. Throughout the entirety of its activity, Orquestra Sem Fronteiras has distributed more than 300.000€ to these young musicians, who have been shown ample opportunities to reconnect with their homeland, perform for their communities and believe in a future where migration is no longer an unavoidable necessity.
Usually, there are two ways in which community-based projects are developed in the cultural field. One acts through local institutions or artistic residencies, which operate within the community and thus become part of the community itself. The other is based on occasional visits from artists or institutions that are foreign to the community, on a touch-and-go basis.
In our case, each cycle of concert marathons offers a mixed-approach that combines the best of both views. If it is true that we involve all local agents in planning and carrying out the concerts, on the other hand we also have the added value of presenting something new, coming from outside of the community. This allows us to reach deep into the community and be received as part of the family, whilst maintaining innumerous surprise and curiosity factors, given the originality of the concept and the unforeseen presence of an orchestra on the spot. Once we return to the same places and revisit communities with whom we already established links, the relationship between our organization and these communities becomes stronger and there is a reinforced sense of purpose in what we do, as well as the fact that what was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, is now something that can be expected more often in the future. In other words, the path is set for a thaw in these individuals’ patterns of cultural appreciation and participation, as well as a renewed sense of belonging within the community.
We believe this project to be guided by some of the best practices in the field of cultural mediation. This means that we start from establishing a concept, which has been outlined along the previous questions and ultimately is about enhancing cultural participation in rural territories. The experience, however, is only fully conceived after we learn about the communities whereupon we will act through facilitators, partners and social workers involved in the project. This way, involving other non-musical fields of practice such as statistics, social intervention and psychology, we guarantee that all relevant information that can inform a decision about what to propose to these communities is being taken into account. Important indicators such as demographics, characteristics of local daily life or the profile of the community as a whole, all serve as key-elements for our decision making process in what comes to designing the experience.
We believe that this is a tailored approach, and the only way, through knowing both ends of the equation - the receivers and the content being offered - that we can ensure a possibility of success in the initiative across all involved elements.
Both the methodology and the processes of this project are highly replicable. Indeed, so much so that we have been able to replicate our own model and organize several cycles of concert marathons in both pre-pandemic and pandemic times, across different territories and for different communities, offering specific experiences from one place to another.
The methodology, as explained above, stems from the premise that we must know both ends of the equation and identify our challenges very clearly from the onset. On the one hand, we must know what we want to offer and what outcome we want for this project, while on the other we must know who this project is meant to serve. For the first, we could rely on our own musical experience and expertise, but for the latter we must draw upon a network of local partnerships and a more varied field of knowledge. In short, this is a demonstration on the importance of fieldwork made in collaboration with partners from different disciplines, each contributing with their own benefits.
In what the process is concerned, we are convinced that this project, through the ambitious and constant displacement of an orchestra, demonstrates that radical decentralization is possible, as demonstrated by our initiative. Hence, similar initiatives serving other arts such as literature, visual arts, theater or cinema, all should be encouraged by our example, since the technical adversities prove not to be insurmountable. Our philosophy is that once an orchestra enters an isolated town and establishes a bridge with its community, so can a movie, a book or a painting make their presence among these and other communities. What matters is that these initiatives are done with a solid informational background and carried out by passionate and dynamic deliverers. The rest will come naturally out of the best there is in human nature, which is fully enhanced in projects such as this.
This initiative exists to address some of the complex and multifaceted challenges faced by rural communities in inland Portugal and Spain. These reflect a wider, globalized phenomenon, where aging communities are being left behind in rural areas, living in ever more isolated and impoverished communities on social, economic and cultural aspects, while at the same time vast territories become increasingly humanly deserted.
We try to mitigate and reverse these factors by addressing another equally second pressing issue, which is the brain drain occurring in these areas, especially that of young talent.
The result of our endeavors is a project which exists to reconnect local, isolated communities with young people who, in their turn, are also connected to these regions and are now brought together through music, their talent being nurtured and financially supported so that they too have reasons to believe in a professional future without having to migrate away from their home regions.
The procedure behind this project is 100% local in the way it is tailored to reach each community specifically, but at the same time it provides solutions that can be implemented across other cultural fields and in other places of the world. What matters here is not just the project itself, but also the modus operandi, where all partners are taken into account and accounted for. There is no distinction between provider and receiver, for we see all elements in this project as equally significant within the human ecosystem that is established.
This project also provides evidence of how interdisciplinary cooperation can achieve great results, namely underlining how specific areas can greatly benefit from the expertise of different fields of knowledge and practice, such as classical music, geographic cohesion and social intervention.
