The Demos children’s orchestra takes over the Halle aux grains in Toulouse
Music schools and instruments are expensive. Because some families do not have access to it, or the classical music is simply not in their culture, Demos (musical and orchestral educational device with a social vocation) is a program which aims precisely to make children discover the practice of the violin, the trombone, or the clarinet for example.
For three years, about 100 children in Haute-Garonne practiced the instrument they themselves chose, all for free, and this Saturday, they gave their big concert in the grain market From toulouse.
– Shannon Marini
Inevitably, before going on stage, there is a little apprehension for William, 10 years old, he plays the trombone. “Failing in front of my friends, it stresses me out, I’m afraid of making everyone miss“, he confides. But from the first notes, it’s the pleasure who takes over for Hawa-noura, also 10 years old, she goes snorkeling: “I like to play notes, it’s fun and it’s good to play with other people.”
Children, but above all artists
In the audience, Ghariba came to see her 11-year-old son on the transverse flute, “it gave him confidence, self-confidence, she said proudly. It opened it up to the public, to people. He wants to continue afterwards, to do the conservatory! It’s a big emotion there.” On the program for this major event: the “Chœur des gamins”, excerpt from Bizet’s opera Carmen, opens the dance, followed by “La Grande porte de kyiv”, before ending with a contemporary composition: “Twenty -1920s” by Sylvain Griotto.
For three years, Christophe Mangou, the conductor, watched them grow. “I am very proud of them, of all the work accomplished, of their positioning as artists on stage and of their concentration.” In two weeks, they will be on the stage of the Philharmonie de Paris. The children of this first generation Demos in Haute-Garonne bow out, before giving way to a new children’s orchestra at the start of the school year.