Juan Diego Flórez’s young talent from Peru take Salzburg by storm

A journey of a lifetime: Legendary tenor Juan Diego Flórez takes the Sinfonía por el Perú Youth Orchestra to Europe where they make their debut at the most important festival of classical music: The Salzburg Festival.

Flórez set up Sinfonía por el Perú back in 2011. Its aim is to provide free music education to Peruvian children and teenagers alike, with the ambition of changing lives through the power of music. Many of the students come from difficult backgrounds but Sinfonía por el Perú has helped them to overcome the challenges they have faced.

“[Here] they find a family; they find a group. They know that alone they can do things, but together they can [seize] the world,” Flórez says.

To date, 30,000 Peruvian youth have availed of the project – with 6,000 currently enrolled in the programme. They can pick up instruments here or learn to sing.

18-year-old Diana Espinoza is now a flautist in the Youth Orchestra. She is from one of Lima's dangerous neighbourhoods. Ahead of the trip to Salzburg, she said “I feel very excited. Taking on this challenge is a big responsibility with the other members of the orchestra. I know we are going to do very well.”

In 2019, the organisation carried out its own qualitative research to measure how the initiative has impacted its beneficiaries. It studied the students in three domains: personal, family and school.

Within family settings, 60% of children and adolescents improved ‘family communication’ – and had seen a drop of 34% in domestic violence or physical punishment in the household.

Diana’s mother, Gladis, has nothing but praise for the project. “It’s so great that it's happening, for the whole family. For all the kids it has changed their lives in every way by fostering the values of