VIDEO: Tuneful Trash with the Landfill Harmonic Orchestra in Paraguay
A group known as the Landfill Harmonic Orchestra who performs using instruments built from waste in Paraguay has collaborated with classical female guitarist Berta Rojas on her new album. The award winning artist paid tribute to the 19-member ensemble this week since starting a guitar programme in the community last December. The Landfill Harmonic film, as can be seen in the embedded video below, documents the story of how despite living in tough conditions, local musician Favio Chavez started a music school where his students made instruments from landfilled waste. This included violins and cellos from oil drums, flutes from water pipes and spoons, guitars from packing crates and marmalade tins. [youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXynrsrTKbI|NBC Latino quoted Rojas as saying: “What happened to these kids was a miracle. This used to be a completely forgotten area in Paraguay — the parents of these kids are garbage collectors, and thanks to this program kids have a voice, and thanks to them the area will no longer be forgotten. We invited them to play on our CD is a symbol of our relationship of love and admiration.” Since meeting with the orchestra, musician Rojas together with Middle C Music from Washington in the US have donated 39 instruments to the class in Paraguay, at a reported cost of $25,000. ###]