The young players of El Sistema’s Libertadores String Quartet from Venezuela will be working with the pupils of the In Harmony Telford and Stoke programme at Old Park Primary School on Monday 11^th November, presenting an engaging performance at 2pm followed by string workshops with the local children. They also have a performance scheduled for the 14^th November at the Venezuelan Consulate in London and are performing off the heels of a concert at the Carnegie Hall In New York.

The quartet is made up of four members of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (SBSOV): Ollantay Velásquez (violin), Eddie Cordero (violin), Otto Rodríguez (viola) and José David Márquez (cello), who have generously offered to do some work with the children and tutors of the In Harmony Telford and Stoke programme.

The Libertadores String Quartet is part of the Venezuelan Network of Quartets and the Latin American Academy of Chamber Music of the Simón Bolívar Music Foundation.

Based on the principles of Venezuela’s inspirational El Sistema, In Harmony is a national programme that aims to inspire and transform the lives of children in deprived communities, using the power and disciplines of community-based orchestral music making. In Harmony Telford and Stoke is working with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and Telford & Wrekin Music.

Since April 2012 In Harmony Telford and Stoke has been jointly funded by the Department for Education and Arts Council England, working in Telford and Stoke on Trent with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Telford & Wrekin Music and Stoke City Music Service.