The group, made up of Venezuelans who fled their country’s economic crisis to Argentina, is preparing for a performance of “The Symphonic Little Prince”, which they created during the lockdown and released on disc at the end of last month.
The violas are rehearsing in the living room, while the violins are in the kitchen. Later, the keyboards and choir will take their places to practice.
They hope to play their symphony in public for the first time in November, and the orchestra’s director, Enmanuel Gonzalez, can hardly wait.
“The Symphonic Little Prince is a beautiful project. It was a labour of quarantine and was also an escape, it was all that we thought about,” he said.
“I’m really looking forward to it and cannot wait to present it.”
Inspired by the novella “The Little Prince” by French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the symphony is an original composition created by the 120-strong Venezuelan orchestra, whose members arrived in Argentina four to five years ago.
They were among the millions of people who fled the crippling economic and political crises in their home country.
Most of the Latin Vox Machine orchestra were trained in Venezuela’s prestigious El Sistema programme, where Gustavo Dudamel, the new director of the Paris Opera, also began his training.
Yet after arriving in Argentina, many earned a living busking in the Buenos Aires metro.
‘Turning trauma into joy’
One of them, Omar Zambrano – who lives in the house where the orchestra rehearses – came up with the idea of forming a Venezuelan musical troupe.
But Covid-19 plunged the orchestra into “a dark period” from which they have only emerged thanks to their composition, said Zambrano, the group’s executive director.
“We thought about it before the pandemic, but we didn’t manage to do it because the composition and arrangements take a lot of time.
“It’s the result of many wills – the composers, the arrangers, the performers, the director. Little by little, it was developed during the pandemic, piece by piece as the quarantine rules were relaxed.”
During this time, they also launched an online music school, Latin Vox Academy, to help the musicians earn some money.
“We probably wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing without the trauma of displacement and the pandemic,” said Zambrano.
“Turning bad into good is what gives us power. Turning trauma into joy is an art.”