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KEVIN NIMMOCK TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
During his first two days in Tel Aviv, Israel, Moncton’s Ken MacLeod constantly heard people calling his name.
“I would hear “Ken, Ken” and I would turn around and no one would be there,” said MacLeod, the CEO of Sistema New Brunswick on the phone from Tel Aviv.
On his third day at the First International Music Education Conference, an event organized by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to discuss the link between music and social change, someone finally tipped MacLeod off that “Ken”is“yes”in Hebrew.
“I’m glad I heard my name so often,”he said.“It’s really a great metaphor for the conference as whole - using positivity to create change.”
MacLeod was invited to present a workshop at the conference, where he talked about Sistema NB, a province-wide program wherein underprivileged kids learn to play instruments and work in an orchestral setting under the instruction of professional teaching artists. There are eight Sistema groups across the province, working with 850 kids for three hours after school, five days a week.
“Our whole purpose is to engage kids who would otherwise be left out,” MacLeod said.“When kids are given opportunities, they are able to achieve at very high levels.
“We have proven in our context that music can be an incredibly powerful tool for personal transformation.”
Tony Delgado, the program’s musical director, said he has watched kids learn about discipline and teamwork from performing in a group setting, where they have to be accountable to their peers.
“The kids understand you have to collaborate with each other for a greater good,” said Delgado, who is a graduate of the originial Sistema program in Venezuela.“At the same time, [the program] encourages a lot of healthy competition, because they want to be better. They have all the other kids to look at, and they want to be like them.”
New Brunswick’s Sistema program is one of a number operating around the world, but was the first of its kind in Canada. MacLeod said he had the chance to meet the directors in charge of Sula-mot, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s Sistema branch, whose name translates to“a ladder to climb up”in English.
“This is an orchestra that brings together Jewish, Arab and Palestinian youth,” MacLeod said, adding there are 2,000 kids and 18 orchestras making music in 14 cities.
“In a part of the world where there has been insecurity and conflict for generations, here they are bringing people together.
“It’s a very powerful social mission.”
MacLeod said he has had“preliminary discussions”to collaborate with Sulamot in the future, as well as groups from several other countries.
During the conference, MacLeod said he heard from many of the speakers that music organizations“need to have a much wider view of the world.”
“For music organizations, making sound is not enough,”he said.
“There is a wider social responsibility to communities and the societies we live in.
“That lesson made me very encouraged because it is the exact focus of Sistema New Brunswick.”
Delgado said he was proud to see his program celebrated on the global stage, but with that spotlight comes an extra challenge.
“We need to live up to it,” he said. “It’s really good, but it’s also a big responsibility.
“It encourages us to do a better job every day.”
