Changing lives through music: legendary tenor's dream for Peru

“I had a dream. I had the dream of helping disadvantaged boys and girls in Peru…“Juan Diego Flórez

An extraordinary social project in Peru is helping to change the lives of disadvantaged children through the power of music education. The project is the initiative of the internationally acclaimed Peruvian tenor, Juan Diego Flórez.

Flórez was first introduced to this concept when he visited Venezuela in 2009 to perform with conductor Gustavo Dudamel. Venezuela’s El Sistema was an internationally lauded programme known to have helped children coming from a background of crime and drug abuse since its creation in the 1970s.

Inspired by this project Flórez then created numerous music schools throughout Peru, where children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds have access to free music education. They can learn an instrument or sing in the choir and the best of them make it to the Youth Orchestra which gets to perform with Flórez.

Some of these musicians from the music education programme, Sinfonía por el Perú, have embarked on an extraordinary journey, taking them from Lima to Salzburg. One of them is Gabriel Vera Correa.  Life hasn’t always been easy for the 15-year-old, but music has given him a purpose as his mother Nelly Mercedes Vera Correa, explains.

“He was bullied at school because he was chubby. There were kids who threw his backpack in the bin. Music has helped him to lose his fears, to feel more confident, to feel that whatever he wanted to achieve he was able to achieve.”

Gabriel plays with the Sinfonía por el Perú Youth Orchestra and explains how he discovered a passion for his instrument.

“I’ve always liked music and have always been interested in learning, whether it is an instrument or singing. I was thinking of